His mother was found wandering on a busy street two days before Gismo was born: a hazardous stunt that could have been fatal for the donkey as well as for drivers. After he was born Gismo has spent his days in the company of his mother and sister Cymbi. By now he is a big boy, who is strutting conceitedly among the rest of the group. In a few months’ time, when he is one year old to be exact, this donkey will be castrated. That is necessary, unfortunately, to prevent inbreeding; another thing is that the donkey population should not grow out of bounds.

I was born there, my mother’s name is Sassy. And my birth was really special for the volunteers of the Donkey Sanctuary. Normally, a donkey baby is born very early in the morning, but I put my foot down and arrived in the middle of the day. And thus the volunteers present could see how a baby donkey is born. Unfortunately it is not known who my father is. Probably a stray donkey that jumped across the fence when my mom was in heat. And after the deed, he just left.

My mother left me right after my birth in Savaneta. Forturnately there were people who took care of me and they called the volunteers of the Donkey foundation. They took me to doctor Contreras right away, as I was seriously ill with an infected umbilical cord and heart problems.

A fortnight after our volunteers had captured her mother, Cymbi was caught. During those two weeks Cymbi stayed in the vicinity of the family that had lured her mother into their garden. After a trailer had taken this donkey to the sanctuary, the reunion with her mother Orchid took place, a joyful occasion. At this moment Cymbi is probably expecting a baby; time will tell. It was quite stunning to see Orchid welcoming Cymbi as Orchid had delivered a son two days after she came to the sanctuary. Normally a first-born is rejected by the mother at such a time. But in this case it was the opposite: mother Orchid started flourishing after the reunion with her mom.