Woman's bid to save donkey that resembles a woolly mammoth from extinction after their numbers drop to less than 1,000



Annie Pollock began rescuing giant Poitou donkeys bound for abbatoirs

Hampshire farmer has built up largest herd of Baudet de Poitou in the UK

Loveable donkeys have shaggy coats and can grow to up to 8ft tall



With their massive bodies, huge ears and shaggy coats, they are not so much donkeys as woolly mammoths.

And farmer Annie Pollock finds the Baudet de Poitou so irresistible that she has built up a herd of 22, the biggest in the UK.

The donkeys can grow to more than 8ft tall – larger than most horses – and are renowned for their friendly and mischievous personalities.



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Enormous: Farmer Annie Pollock, seen with giant donkey Izzy, has the largest herd of Baudet de Poitou donkeys in the UK

They date back to medieval times in France, and were popular working animals until the mid-20th century, when mechanisation made them obsolete.



A survey in 1977 found just 44 surviving donkeys, and despite breeding programmes there are still fewer than 1,000 in the world.



Miss Pollock, 52, from Lymington in the New Forest, has spent nine years building up her herd, seven of which would have gone for slaughter but for her intervention.

She and her small team of farm hands work round the clock to look after the creatures, dedicating hours to grooming so their coats do not turn into dreadlocks.

Loveable: Poitou foals Charlie and Cadeau at the farm in Hampshire, where the farmer made a home for rescued donkeys that had been bound for the abbatoir in France

Ms Pollock, one of only two Poitou breeders in the UK, said: 'In 2004 I phoned a lady in France looking to buy a llama, and ended up with two Poitou donkeys which I instantly fell in love with.

'I started looking into the breed and found out they were incredibly rare.



'Gradually I built up the herd, and then started rescuing them.



'I have rescued seven from France which would have otherwise ended up going to the slaughter house.



'Word spread I was rescuing them and I have since been approached by a lot of people about taking in their Poitou.



'The breed were to France what shire horses are to Britain and were exported all over the world,' Ms Pollock said.

'Then came mechanisation and they fell out of favour.



'There are still less than 1,000 in the stud book and we have 22 of them,' she added.



Critically endangered: There now are less than 1,000 Poitou donkeys like Izzy in existence

Mischievous: Ms Pollock said the donkeys are funny and friendly, but also 'a bit naughty'

The biggest donkey at Annie’s 120-acre Norley Farm is Verveine, dwarfing standard donkeys at a whopping 16 hands - or 5ft 4ins - measured to its shoulders.



Its huge neck and head add several extra feet to its overall height.



The largest in the world lives on a farm in Texas and stands at 17 hands (5ft 7ins).



The biggest donkey in the UK is thought to be at a farm in Lincolnshire, standing at 8ft tall when measured from the ground to the tip of its ears.



Annie added: 'Verveine is huge and will probably get a bit bigger still. At 16 hands she is quite a bit bigger than people like to ride horses.



'Most people tend to ride horses that are 14 or 15 hands.



'Historically they had very poor diets so we actually have to limit what they eat otherwise they will grow too big.



'I love their temperament, they’re so funny and friendly, and they teach you patience.

