More color variation if/when the mod author ever feels up for it would be nice! A lot of domesticated (and as a result, feral) donkeys have some pretty coat variations. :)
"feral" isn't always a bad word btw. the zoopedia left quite a bit out on the history behind equids in the americas and focused more on "they're feral and invasive". another thing left out is their population, according to last year's data, more than 17,000.
i'd like to start a friendly debate. something to consider, is how burros know how to find water and dig new water holes and maintain them. sometimes these become the only water hole for miles, providing water for many species. and while equus asinus did develop in africa, the extinct stilt-legged horses shared similarities and may have had similar niches. from what i know about the fossil record and dna research, equids (especially horses) are, and should be seen as a reintroduced species. like the rewilding projects in europe. the main problems are drought, habitat degradation and loss from human and livestock use, and there are far fewer predators and more herbivores on the land now. jaguars, wolves, bears, and cougars are all known to prey on equines and they lived alongside them for hundreds of thousands of years before they disappeared. a 5,000 or 10,000 year disappearance isn't much considering they lived here for millions of years alongside all of the other species considered native. no, i'm not saying they should all be left alone to overpopulate, especially considering the lack of predators. i'm just saying that people should reconsider equines' roles in north and south american ecosystems. i find it a very fascinating topic but the debates can get out of control sometimes and i don't want that.
Yeah, there was a paper that came out a couple years ago about how in bighorn conservation areas, cougars eat primarily feral burros, resulting in burro populations stabilizing and preventing predation on bighorn (and livestock, for that matter) from becoming a serious concern. Unfortunately, nature enthusiasts and amateur conservationists tend to see things in black-and-white a little more than scientists do... It's either Donkey Good or Donkey Bad.
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edit: could you also make a golden spade fish the juvenile form
i'd like to start a friendly debate. something to consider, is how burros know how to find water and dig new water holes and maintain them. sometimes these become the only water hole for miles, providing water for many species. and while equus asinus did develop in africa, the extinct stilt-legged horses shared similarities and may have had similar niches. from what i know about the fossil record and dna research, equids (especially horses) are, and should be seen as a reintroduced species. like the rewilding projects in europe.
the main problems are drought, habitat degradation and loss from human and livestock use, and there are far fewer predators and more herbivores on the land now. jaguars, wolves, bears, and cougars are all known to prey on equines and they lived alongside them for hundreds of thousands of years before they disappeared. a 5,000 or 10,000 year disappearance isn't much considering they lived here for millions of years alongside all of the other species considered native.
no, i'm not saying they should all be left alone to overpopulate, especially considering the lack of predators. i'm just saying that people should reconsider equines' roles in north and south american ecosystems. i find it a very fascinating topic but the debates can get out of control sometimes and i don't want that.