Rescued donkeys help Spain fight deadly wildfires
Photo: REUTERS
While high-tech tools like satellites, drones, and artificial intelligence attempt to curb ferocious wildfires in southern Europe, a nonprofit in Catalonia relies on an ancient method: a herd of 62 rescued donkeys.
As Spain grapples with its deadliest seasons - including the destruction of over 2,40,000 acres this year and nearly a million acres in 2025 - these animals are quietly carving natural firebreaks across the parched Mediterranean landscape.
Tivissa Donkey Firefighters, a nonprofit organization situated 80 miles south of Barcelona, rehabilitates abandoned and mistreated donkeys to serve as “firefighters”. Founder Joan Cedó Sans, who also serves as the mayor of the small town of Tivissa, launched the initiative in 2020 after observing how efficiently his first animals cleared forest undergrowth.
Regarding the animals’ insatiable appetite, Cedó said, “They ate everything.” The mayor, who manages the project alongside volunteer Jordi García, feels the effort provides a second chance for both the land and the animals.
Describing the nature of the work, García noted, “It’s very gratifying. You’re out in nature, and you’ve given these animals a chance”. Reflecting on the mission, Cedó added, “We’re grateful for the animals that we feel deserve a second opportunity.”
The herd includes animals with difficult pasts, such as Roberto, a former racing donkey once destined for a slaughterhouse due to his bulky frame. Cedó remarked, “He is special, and I think he knows it.”
Another resident, Paloma, suffered from obesity after receiving a poor diet of supermarket cookies and sugar cubes. Cedó criticized this treatment, saying, “That’s not a diet for an animal like this … It’s a kind of mistreatment as well.”
The project ensures these animals receive medical care from a volunteer vet and supplemental food from local farms and a nearby theme park, creating what Cedó describes as a “dignified life.”
Experts like Jordi Bartolomé Filella, a professor at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, explain that donkeys favor the “fine fuel” grasses that ignite easily during the summer. While goats effectively clear woody plants, Cedó argues that donkeys offer unique physical benefits.
He explained, “The work donkeys do, neither goats nor sheep can do. They weigh more, so every time they tread, they tread harder, they eat more.”
Their heavy trampling breaks the continuous layer of dry foliage that fire requires to spread, while their trodden paths provide access for emergency crews to run hoses.
Bartolomé added that while grazing is not a “silver bullet,” it significantly reduces fire intensity. He warned, “It is difficult to guarantee that with livestock grazing there will be no fires, but it can make them lower in intensity, and therefore easier to extinguish.”
The initiative follows the lead of “El Burrito Feliz” (Happy Little Donkey) in southern Spain and mirrors rewilding efforts in Galicia involving wild horses.
In Catalonia, the “Ramats de Foc” (Fire Flocks) project pairs shepherds with firefighters to graze critical zones, selling meat and cheese under a wildfire-prevention label to fund the work.
Despite their value, these programs face financial hurdles, as European wildfires released a record 13 million tons of carbon in 2025. Herders receive only € 80 per hectare for private land and € 300 for public land, amounts that Cedó finds insufficient to sustain the operations.
Bartolomé suggests that governments must pay for grazing as an ecosystem service, just as they do for mechanical clearing.
Without large herbivores, Bartolomé warned that biomass would eventually be consumed by fire, saying, “Without large herbivores, sooner or later this biomass would be ‘eaten’ by fire. Unlike the herbivores, fire consumes it suddenly - with wide-ranging consequences for the ecosystem and risks to people.”
Reflecting on the project’s significance, Cedó concluded, “This project was born from nothing, by chance. But it’s been a profound lesson - socially, personally.”
He emphasized the importance of reviving ancestral knowledge, adding, “We aren’t doing anything our ancestors didn’t do. All we’re doing is putting value back on those rural tasks, that way of life that depended so much on animals.”
Source: CNN (adapted)
