The Jack that bulldozed America
Photo courtesy of Lisa Werner
Ethan Werner, 4, visits the American Mammoth Jacks at his parents farm on Highway 64.
Van Zandt County farm producing Mammoth donkeys
A new breed of mammoths can now call Van Zandt County home. But the mammoths, not the shaggy elephant of pre-historic times, but rather the large American Mammoth Jacks, have landed a place to call home on a private farm of Brian and Lisa Werner.
The Werners and their two boys, Ethan and Evan, live in the eastern part of Van Zandt County along Highway 64 and are raising Mammoth Jacks.
Mammoth Jacks, as the name implies, is a breed of donkeys that are colossal in size. They are the world’s largest breed of donkey and were developed in the United States through cross-breeding of imported, large European (predominately Spanish) breeds. The males range in size from 56 to 58 inches tall, about the same height as a horse.
The gift of an Andalusian Jack and two Jennets to George Washington from the King of Spain in 1785 is widely recognized as the event that revolutionized Jack Stock breeding in the United States. These foundation stock, and a Maltese Jack later bestowed on Washington by his European ally, Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, produced Jack Stock and mules of a quality not previously attainable with the inferior domestic stock and those imported from the Cape de Verde Islands.
But what really sets these Mammoth Jacks apart from normal donkeys besides their size is that they were slowly going extinct, but are now making a steady comeback thanks in large part to the Werners.
Brian Werner said that at one time, the Jack Stock’s number flourished to over 5 million in the country; now, the numbers are down to less than 2,000.
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