Get to Know Your New Favorite Donkey

Choosing a topic for the Drink Wisconsinbly Week in Review is often an arduous task. Pitch meetings can go on for hours, with staff members often shouting, pounding the table, and doing that thing where you hang your head and rub the bridge of your nose in frustration. But occasionally a story with a headline like “Meet Milwaukee’s Animals: Guiseppi the Donkey’s Day Includes Many Snuggles,” is pitched and the meeting ends in mere seconds.

Guiseppi is a miniature donkey who calls the Milwaukee County Zoo home. And he isn’t just hangin’ around taking up space there; he earns his keep by serving as an ambassador.

He’s a miniature Mediterranean donkey, which is also known as a miniature Sicilian donkey. And that’s where he gets his name. However, it’s not the traditional Italian spelling of Giuseppe. Nobody is quite sure why his name is spelled differently. But that’s just part of what makes him such a fascinating donkey.

Guiseppi’s height is what makes him miniature. That designation comes when a donkey is less than 36 inches tall. At last check, he tipped the scales at 306 pounds. So, while he may be short, he is also thicc.

He’s known for being affectionate, even going so far as nudging his handlers to get snuggles and scratches.

Your new favorite donkey just celebrated his 28th birthday yesterday, which puts him squarely in his Golden Years. But that doesn’t slow him down. In his role as ambassador, he takes part in educational programs, where visitors get a chance to brush him and listen to his heartbeat.

Guiseppi can be found in the Family Farm area of the zoo along with his roommate, a Norwegian Fjord horse named Nelson, and around 140 other animals.

Now that you’ve gotten to know Guiseppi a little bit, you can pop in and visit seven days a week at the Milwaukee County Zoo. He may or may not be happy to see you, but you’ll sure as hell be happy to see him.