Domestic donkey is a transboundary breed present in many Balkan countries.
According to the Law on Animal Production, in many Balkan countries, for every breed
of domestic animals it is necessary to create a separate breeding programme. Based on
the results of a study evaluating the main morphological, reproductive and functional
traits in 47 domestic donkeys in Macedonia during 2017 and 2018, current standards and
breeding goals were defined for the next national breeding programme of this breed.
According to the fact that the domestic donkey is a metapopulation and transboundary
breed in almost all Balkan countries, it is a good recommendation to create a regional
breeding programme with flexible standards and breeding goals for this relative of horses
for all Balkan countries together.
Keywords: donkey, domestic breed, breeding goals and standards, selection.
