If you’re looking from a distance, Hope the donkey’s titanic ears could easily be mistaken for wings.
As of Jan. 2, the ears aren’t just a quirky local sight, but the longest ears on any donkey alive.
At 15 inches long, they stand proudly like a crown atop Hope’s head — a sight her owner, Byron resident Hannah Frost, said would’ve been unthinkable just a few months prior.
Hope was rescued by Frost, and came to the farm emaciated and with health issues. Pursuing a Guinness World Record became a way to highlight Hope’s journey and raise awareness around rescued farm animals.
“She’s a rescue donkey that’s now a Guinness World Record holder,” Frost said. “That doesn’t happen every day.”
Frost said Hope’s title is especially meaningful given her rough start at life.
Frost purchased Hope in September from a seller she had previously bought from. Hope is an endangered breed of donkey called a mammoth donkey, a large donkey that was bred in North America for transportation, pulling plows and operating other farm equipment in the 18th century, according to the American Livestock Conservancy. Frost said she was told Hope was rideable and planned to breed her.
However, when Hope arrived in Crawford County, she was not as advertised. She was emaciated, with her ribs visible through her matted fur. Her hooves were infected, her teeth were overgrown and she had an untreated Cushing’s disease, a hormonal disorder that left Hope lethargic.
Frost, who has experience rescuing farm animals, said the first two or three weeks Hope lived with her, she struggled to even get her to eat.
“She just wasn’t in good enough spirits to even be interested in it,” Frost said.
Hope’s vet put her on an antibiotic to heal the infections in her hooves, and over time she began to gain weight.
Frost also worked with Hope’s vet to address her Cushing’s with medication. Within a few months Hope was plump and happy, roaming the farm with Frost’s other rescue animals that reside on the family property.
Hope is no longer going to be used for breeding, Frost said, and instead spends her time grazing in the sun.
“She’s just a loved pet now,” Frost said.
Frost said that she first thought of applying for a world record as a way to share Hope’s story. After just a month of living with Hope, it was obvious that her ears were unusual. They towered over the ears of Frost’s other mammoth donkey, Red Velvet, and even Hope’s vet remarked on their size.
But the process of proving Hope’s record-shattering ears wasn’t easy. Frost said potential record-breakers have two options to prove their claim: a detailed online process or bring an adjudicator out, which can cost around $16,000.
Frost opted to go through the online process starting in October. She had Hope’s vet measure her ears and submit a statement detailing her health, and take a video of Hope and her tremendous ears. Additionally, two outside witnesses from the community had to support the claim’s veracity.
It took multiple submissions to confirm the record, as Guinness World Records asked for more and more evidence. Finally, on the fourth try, Hope’s ears were recognized as the world’s longest donkey ears, breaking a record previously set by a donkey living in the United Kingdom.
“It was a whole ordeal,” Frost said. “But the fourth (submission) is the one that they finally said they had enough to verify.”
Since then, Hope has met with numerous media outlets and shared her story of going from an emaciated rescue to a world record title holder. The plaque signifying her achievement, which arrived on Jan. 12, now hangs in Frost’s house.
“She’s a whole different donkey,” Frost said. “She seems to be very, very happy.”
This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with Macon Telegraph.
