One of the most prominent members of the wildlife community at South Dakota’s Custer State Park is the burro. This charismatic relative of the horse, long of ear and muzzle, might have been domesticated a continent away and established in the area only through human doing, but it now thrives in the park's tawny prairies and pine savannas.
Custer State Park
The park protects 71,000 acres of grasslands and conifer-swathed mountains in the Black Hills of southwestern South Dakota. The region is famous for its human history, considered deeply sacred by a number of Great Plains indigenous cultures and scouted for gold by none other than Gen. Custer. Besides wildlife, park visitors seek out the impressive scenery--which includes the highest US mountain east of the Rockies, 7,242-foot Harney Peak--and recreation opportunities like rock climbing.
Large Mammal Community
Burros aren’t the only large mammals in the state park that didn’t inhabit the region prior to Euro-American settlement. The Rocky Mountain goat, a snow-white inhabitant of the high country, did not historically range in the Black Hills, but was introduced in the 20th century and now thrives among the granite spires, rubbing shoulders with bighorn sheep. Other hoofed mammals commonly encountered in the park have a long association with the hills and Great Plains, most famously the bison, but also elk, pronghorn, mule and white-tailed deer.
Burros--the name comes from the Spanish word for donkey, which is the same creature--most likely derive from the African wild ass, which survives in semi-arid scrub and grasslands of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia. Superficially similar to donkeys, these tough ungulates are well-suited to their severe, water-stressed environment. Some 4,000 to 6,000 years ago, humans domesticated the wild ass in the Sahara Desert to produce the donkey, which can still interbreed with its progenitor. Indeed, hybridization between domestic donkeys and the now critically endangered African wild ass is a major conservation concern.
The Custer State Park burros are feral. They were introduced into the area by humans and have reverted to a wild or semi-wild state. Specifically, the park’s donkey squad descends from pack animals once used for treks to the Harney Peak summit. Now naturalized, they often pander for food from park tourists in places like the Wildlife Loop Road, sometimes causing traffic jams. Such is their boldness that they are often referred to as the “begging burros."
Spotting the burros is generally easier than seeing more elusive creatures like elk or coyotes. Because of their inquisitiveness and habituation to human feeding, the herds can be encountered right along the roads. The South Dakota Division of Parks and Recreation stresses that visitors should be highly cautious around the begging burros, as any wild animal can be dangerous.
- asno 1 image by Diorgi from Fotolia.com