Four-Legged Firefighters
© David Zorrakino—Europa Press/Getty Images
The Tivissa Donkeys Firefighters are used to clear vegetation in Spain. The donkey in this photo is part of another program called “Rucs al bosc,” or “Donkeys in the Forest.”
Wildfires can cause a massive amount of destruction. But in Spain, a group of four-legged firefighters are helping to keep the blazes under control.
An organization called Tivissa Donkeys Firefighters has been putting rescued donkeys to work since 2020. More than 30 of Tivissa’s donkeys eat dry grass in the Catalonia region of Spain, keeping it from getting overgrown. The donkeys also break up this vegetation just by walking on it, so wildfires don’t have a clear path. As a result, fires have less fuel and spread less easily.
It’s a job that could also be done by goats and sheep, which are herbivores (plant-eaters) like donkeys. But Joan Cedó Sans, who founded Tivissa, says donkeys are the most effective firefighters.
“The work donkeys do, neither goats nor sheep can do,” Cedó told CNN. “[Donkeys] weigh more, so every time they tread [step on the ground], they tread harder, they eat more.”
Tivissa isn’t just a firefighting organization. It’s also an animal rescue, taking in donkeys that have been mistreated in some way. Now the animals lead a peaceful life, doing what they would naturally do while unknowingly helping to prevent disasters.
© David Zorrakino—Europa Press/Getty Images
Donkeys from the “Rucs al bosc” program happily do their jobs.
The donkeys’ work is especially important right now. Many parts of Europe, including Spain, have been battling wildfires all through the hot, dry summer of 2026. Climate change has made the continent hotter and drier, so wildfires are more likely to break out and spread. The donkeys alone are not going to solve the problem, but they can help.
“It is difficult to guarantee that with livestock grazing there will be no fires,” Jordi Bartolomé Filella, a university professor who studies herbivores, told CNN. “But it can make them lower in intensity, and therefore easier to extinguish.”
The donkeys are always willing to do their part.
