Asno de las Encartaciones
The i=no,, is a Spanish breed of small domestic donkey from the western part of the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in north-eastern Spain. It is named for the comarca of Las Encartaciones, in the province of Biscay. It is the only small donkey breed of Spain, and resembles the Gascon donkey, now a sub-type of the Pyrenean. The Asno de las Encartaciones is critically endangered, and is protected by conservation measures.
History
The Asno de las Encartaciones is indigenous to the western part of the province of Biscay, and is concentrated in the municipalities of Artzentales, Balmaseda, Galdames, Gordexola, Güeñes, Karrantza, Lanestosa, Sopuerta, Turtzioz and Zalla. The breed almost disappeared during the course of the twentieth century. The fall in numbers began in the first decades of the century, and was most rapid in the 1960s and 1970s; the population numbered about in the early 70s, and had fallen to barely 100 by the late 90s. As with other donkey breeds, the principal causes were the mechanisation of agriculture and the depopulation of rural areas.The Asno de las Encartaciones was presented at agricultural fairs in Gordexola in 1994 and at Markina in 1995. As a result, a breeders' association, the i=no, was formed in 1996, and a conservation plan, including a 12-hectare reserve at Gordexola, was published in 1999.
The breed was officially recognised in 2004. Its conservation status was listed as "critical" by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2007 and by the SAVE Foundation in 2008. No population data is published by the Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente, the Spanish ministry of agriculture. Numbers of about 100 were reported in 1999, 2001 and 2008.