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Baro was used by gold miners as California’s Pack Miners over a century ago. Today, wild donkeys in the San Bernardino County area are becoming a risk to local road safety.
To address the issue of overpopulation, county officials have approved new deals with local nonprofits and are helping to sterilize and relocate many pint-sized horses to the sanctuary.
“These partnerships reflect our commitment to local, caring, community-focused solutions to manage the wild Baro population of San Bernardino County,” county chief executive Luther Snoke told the Board of Supervisors Tuesday.
Donkeyland founder Amber Levonne said in a statement that the rescue group is “thrilled to continue working with San Bernardino County under a new contract to support local wild barros.”
The two contracts, which came into effect on April 1, will help relocate orphans, sick or injured wild donkeys, according to the county. Another contract will fund Donkeyland to castrate 100 donkeys within a year.
The county also worked with nonprofits to gather and transport Balo to Donkeyland Reserve. The organization has a wildlife sanctuary with over 2,000 acres of space for wild burros and donkeys.
Donkeys and wild burros are derived from the tame donkeys left behind by gold miners over a century ago. Baro roams the pine forests and surge brush fields in the Big Bear Valley area, but their numbers can overwhelm rare and endangered plants.
Additionally, some locals have argued for the destruction of private property, claiming that animals could be at risk of traffic and putting both residents and Baro at risk.
County officials said the donkey was injured and killed in a traffic collision.
The county had previously worked with Donkeyland, but county officials said there was disagreement over whether the organization could bring additional burros into the sanctuary in late 2024.
But Donkeyland officials refuted to claim that they said they had the capacity for the county.
“The county knows firsthand that we can accommodate another 550 permanent residents,” the Lovaland board wrote on Facebook. “It’s unclear why they publicly stated that we are capable, but on December 12, 2024 we brought some herds.”
The county’s Department of Public Health has decided to instead partner with the Peaceful Valley Lova Rescue to capture and rescue almost 256 burros in the unincorporated Leche Canyon area.
The county ended its contract with Heiwaya on January 24th after receiving negative feedback from Lovaland supporters.
“The PVDR and the County Public Health Department have mutually agreed to sign a firing letter ending January 24, 2025 and sign a contract for the Wild Burro rescue and relocation services,” according to the county’s Wild Burro program web page.
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