Lizzie lives in a herd of 15 burros who were captured from their home range on the Black Mountain Herd Management Area in Arizona in 2015.

Unlike wild horses, wild burros in dry areas are solitary and do not form harems. Each adult burro establishes a home range; breeding over a large area may be dominated by one jack. The loud call or bray of the donkey, which typically lasts for twenty seconds and can be heard for over three kilometres, may help keep in contact with other donkeys over the wide spaces of the desert. Burros have a notorious reputation for stubbornness, but this has been attributed to a much stronger sense of “self-preservation” than exhibited by horses. Likely based on a stronger prey instinct and a weaker connection with humans, it is considerably more difficult to force or frighten a burro into doing something it perceives to be dangerous for whatever reason. Once a person has earned their confidence, they can be willing and companionable partners and very dependable in work.

Return to Freedom is home to 15 burros who came to us from the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Nevada. A few other burros came to us from Clark Mountain, and a few more we rehomed from the BLM.