The Ragusano is an Italian

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

donkey The donkey or ass is a domesticated equine. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a separate species, ''Equus asinus''. It was domes ...

from the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

island of

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. It is associated particularly with the

comuni A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

Modica Modica (; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') in the Province of Ragusa, Sicily, southern Italy. The city is situated in the Hyblaean Mountains. It has 53,413 inhabitants. Modica has neolithic origins and it represents the historical cap ...

Ragusa Ragusa may refer to: Places Croatia * Ragusa, Dalmatia, the historical name of the city of Dubrovnik * the Republic of Ragusa (or Republic of Dubrovnik), the maritime city-state of Ragusa * Ragusa Vecchia, historical Italian name of Cavtat, a t ...

Santa Croce Camerina Santa Croce Camerina () is a town and in the province of Ragusa, Sicily, in southern Italy. As of 2017 its population was of 10,973. History In 2014, the town was scene to the Santa Croce Camerina crime. Geography The municipal territory of ...

and

Scicli Scicli is a town and municipality in the Province of Ragusa in the south east of Sicily, southern Italy. It is from Ragusa, and from Palermo, and has a population (2017) of 27,051. Alongside seven other cities in the Val di Noto, it has been l ...

, all in the

Province of Ragusa The province of Ragusa (; ) was a province in the autonomous region of Sicily, Italy, located in the southeast of the island. Following the abolition of the Sicilian provinces, it was replaced in 2015 by the Free municipal consortium of Ragusa ...

in southern Sicily. It is one of the eight autochthonous donkey breeds of limited distribution recognised by the

Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali The Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests (), or MASAF, is an Italian government department. It was formed in 1946 as the Ministero dell'Agricoltura e delle Foreste ("Ministry of Agriculture and Forests"), and following the refe ...

, the Italian ministry of agriculture and forestry. Its

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...

was listed as "endangered" by the

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates t ...

in 2007.

History

The earliest mentions of the Ragusano date back to the mid-nineteenth century. Although it is distributed mainly in the

and

, all in the

on the southern coast of Sicily, it was developed principally at the Istituto di Incremento Ippico or state horse-breeding centre of

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

, where the

herd-book A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry, the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeders wh ...

is still kept. It derives mostly from the other two Sicilian donkeys, the Grigio Siciliano and the Pantesco, with some influence from two larger breeds, the Asino di Martina Franca from

Puglia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

and the Catalan of

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

. It received official recognition as a breed in 1953. The

of the Ragusano was listed as "endangered" by the

in 2007, when the population was reported to be 349. In 2025 it was listed in

DAD-IS DAD-IS is the acronym for the Domestic Animal Diversity Information System, a tool developed and maintained by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as a part of its programme for management of animal genetic resources for ...

as "vulnerable", with a total population for 2023 reported at head in 723 herds, with registered breeding jennies and 450 breeding jacks.

Characteristics

The Ragusano is larger and more lively than other Sicilian donkeys. Heights at the

withers Withers are the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, this ridge is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, catt ...

average for jacks and for jennies; average thoracic circumference (chest-girth) measurements are and respectively, and the corresponding cannon-bone measurements and . The coat colour is dark bay, with pale muzzle and eye-surrounds, often also pale on the belly and insides of the legs.

Uses

It is used for transport, for agricultural work, and for

trekking Backpacking is the outdoor recreation of carrying gear on one's back while hiking for more than a day. It is often an extended journey and may involve camping outdoors. In North America, tenting is common, where simple shelters and mountain hu ...

, but is particularly useful for siring

mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey, and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two ...

s and for the production of

asses' milk Donkey milk (or ass milk, or jenny milk) is the milk from the domesticated donkey (''Equus asinus''). It has been used since antiquity for cosmetic purposes as well as infant nutrition. History Donkey milk has been used by humans for aliment ...

. The milk has been found to have

anti-viral Antiviral drugs are a class of medication used for treating viral infections. Most antivirals target specific viruses, while a broad-spectrum antiviral is effective against a wide range of viruses. Antiviral drugs are a class of antimicrobials ...

properties which – it has been suggested – might make it a candidate for possible use in the prevention of viral gastro-intestinal infections in humans.

References

Donkey breeds originating in Italy Donkey breeds Sicily Ark of Taste foods {{bots, deny=Citation bot