Sicilian grey donkey - Asino Grigio Siciliano
Italian breeds of donkeys

Origins and consistency

The origins of the donkey ‘Grey from Sicily’, also commonly known as ‘Ferrante’, are very ancient. We have some news in Chicoli (1870) about two donkey breeds in Sicily: an ordinary working breed (Sicilian) of small size with an uneven coat and the lower parts of the body constantly white and the breed of Pantelleria, a saddle breed from upper-class stables. Later about the Sicilian donkey Mascheroni (1927) considers two subbreeds, the one from the eastern provinces (similar to the Apulian donkey – Martina Franca) and the other from the western provinces (similar to the Pantesco donkey), which is described with a totally grey coat, of small size, with proportions that are not as elegant or perfect as those of the Pantelleria donkey.
Today there are about a hundred examples between 4 months and 14 years of age, very rustic and frugal, accustomed to live in the wild, sharing the grazing land with other autochthonous animals.

Morphological characters

Height to the withers: 120-128 cm. The present day size is lower than the one present in 1927 (132-135 cm).
Naturally gifted for work and endurance, this special feature has been ratified by biometric indexes which show the difference with the most common Ragusa breed.

Sicilian grey donkey (photo Dr. Luigi Liotta - Università di Messina)

Sicilian grey donkey (photo Dr. Luigi Liotta - Università di Messina)