
Someone has said, “Thousands have lived without love, not one without water”. This phrase is not only applicable for humans but for animals too whether wild or domesticated. New research shows a wonderful study, where the wild donkeys and horses dig equid wells for themselves in the desert, and this far-reaching benefits for the ecosystem. These wild donkeys and horses often dig into the dusty sediment to reach cool, crystal clear groundwater to quench their thirst.
Equid wells in the desert become a major source of water during dry seasons that benefit a whole host of desert animals and keystone trees.
*Equid means a mammal of the horse family. Hence the well dug by the mammal of the horse family is known as equid wells.
Erick Lundgren, who is an ecologist at Aarhus University in Denmark, first observed wild donkeys digging wells in 2014, he wondered whether these holes might benefit ecosystems, similar to the way elephant-built water holes can sustain a community in the African savannah.
He along with his colleagues has come up with their research on wild donkeys, and how there their simple act is having a benefiting the ecosystem.
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