The donkey with the blue eyes
As the only breed of donkey indigenous to Austria, the Austrian Hungarian white Baroque donkey, the animal featured on this year’s stamp in the “Rare farm animal breeds” series, is a rare breed indeed.
The Baroque donkey is unmistakeable thanks to its almost white coat, the colour of which is designated “cremello”, and its blue eyes. This light colouring is termed flavism, with the skin and hooves also evidencing only weak pigmentation. The animal is medium-sized with a normal length coat and the upright mane typical of donkeys.
During the Baroque era, the colour white was a status symbol of the nobility. White animals were considered “light bringers”, which is why it is thought that the white donkey originates from this period, bred in the lands encompassed by the Habsburg Empire, especially eastern Austria and Hungary. Over time the breed was forgotten about, and it was only in the 1980s that it was once again brought to the attention of the public. The white Baroque donkey has been recognised as a breed in its own right since 2016, with the Stadl-Paura breeding association in Upper Austria being responsible for breeding. The Verein zur Erhaltung der Weißen Barockesel (association for the preservation of the white Baroque donkey) is striving to ensure survival of the highly endangered breed, for which only a few hundred specimens are listed in the studbook. The main population centres in Austria are at Schloss Hof in the Marchfeld region and in the Neusiedler See National Park. Like all donkeys, white Baroque donkeys are robust, undemanding and fearless. The white donkey can be ridden by children or used as a draft animal for light coaches and in animal therapy. In the Seewinkel region they are also used in landscape conservation.
