Bull and donkey relationship in Ethiopia studied by Italian researchers, Digi Mart USA News (Ethiopia): A bull and a donkey that share grazing lands in Ethiopia became the subject of a scientific investigation into an uncommon relationship between animals of different species. Researchers observed that the two animals, identified as Achilles and Patroclus, constantly seek each other out, maintain physical contact and display behaviors beyond ordinary coexistence.
The animals were studied by specialists from the University of Pisa in Italy, who were originally in Africa to research gelada monkey communities. A series of encounters between the bull and the donkey, however, caught their attention and prompted an independent study.
The scientific team spent eight days, spread over two weeks, observing the animals on the pastures where their respective herds overlapped. During that period, 51 episodes were recorded in which Achilles mounted Patroclus.
Penetration was observed in 34 of them, according to the researchers’ published results.
What surprised specialists most was not only the sexual interactions but the social behaviors that accompanied them. The bull and donkey repeatedly sought each other out and maintained friendly contact, such as licking, rubbing and nuzzling, both before and after their encounters.
Patroclus also did not show the defensive responses that other donkeys displayed when Achilles attempted to approach them in a similar way.
Local herders already knew of the relationship, which apparently existed before the scientific research began.
The findings were published in the journal Current Biology and offer a distinctive case for studying social and sexual relationships between different species. Specialists say the observed interactions cannot be explained solely as reproductive behavior, since both animals are males of different species.
They also noted that the repeated physical contact and mutual seeking suggest a selective social bond.
The researchers cautioned, however, that it is not possible to determine exactly what the animals feel or to draw general conclusions from a single case. The study raises new questions about the diversity of relationships between animals and the importance of social contact among species that do not normally form such pairings.
