- Eighteen donkeys run by the association El Burrito Feliz have patrolled Spain’s Doñana National Park since 2014.
- The donkeys graze down dry brush and grass that would otherwise fuel wildfires.
- Doñana has not recorded a wildfire in nearly a decade, and similar donkey brigades have since launched in three other Spanish regions.
Eighteen donkeys have kept one of Spain’s most important national parks free of wildfires for almost a decade, simply by eating their way through the dry grass and scrub that would otherwise fuel a blaze.
Since 2014, the donkeys run by the association El Burrito Feliz have patrolled the outskirts of Doñana National Park in Andalusia – creating a natural firebreak through their eating habits. The animals, many rescued from abandonment, love to graze down the dry scrub and grass that would otherwise feed a fire.
El Burrito Feliz president Luis Manuel Bejarano has called them “herbivorous firefighters,” according to Euronews.
They work up to seven hours a day between March and November, clearing strips of land around 40 meters by 15 meters. Doñana – a refuge for the endangered Iberian lynx and migratory birds – has not recorded a forest fire in nine years.
Donkeys are well suited to this unique firefighting job as unlike cows or sheep, they can eat much drier, rougher vegetation, steadily stripping out the scrub that helps fires spread.
And the idea is not taking root elsewhere. In Tivissa, in Catalonia, the Burros Bomberos project started with three animals in 2020 and now has around 40, clearing close to 400 hectares. While in Allariz, in Galicia, the Andrea Association uses GPS-tracked donkeys to maintain nearly 1,000 hectares. Similar schemes have appeared in the Basque Country, too.
The success of the programs has now drawn official attention – sparking hope it can be used in much wider trials and areas. Spain’s Military Emergency Unit, which responds to major fires, floods and earthquakes, visited Doñana and symbolically adopted one of the donkeys.
Those behind the projects are clear the donkeys are not a cure-all – forest planning and reducing highly flammable species like pine and eucalyptus still matter. But in a country where nearly a million hectares burned in 2025 – its worst toll in three decades – a slow, four-legged solution is proving its worth.
