The staff at Zoo New England’s Franklin Park Zoo is deeply saddened to share that Vollavon, a rare Poitou donkey, has passed away.

The 15-year-old female, who has resided at Franklin Park Zoo since 2016, had been under intensive care for serious conditions including a severe gastric ulceration and laminitis, which is a painful inflammation of tissues in the hoof. Her health rapidly declined over the weekend, and since then she had not responded well to treatments. Due to these serious health issues and poor prognosis for her quality of life, the decision was made to humanely euthanize her.

Vollavon’s passing is even more acutely painful because it comes weeks after she gave birth to a foal — the first successful birth of this rare heritage breed at Franklin Park Zoo. The male foal arrived late on August 8 with some help from the veterinary staff, who stepped in to assist with a slowly progressing labor. The woolly youngster continues to grow and thrive. His devoted Animal Care team is providing around-the-clock feedings of milk and offering grain and hay, while the Animal Health team closely monitors his growth and development. Betty, a Morgan horse, is providing companionship to the foal in the stable and corral they share behind the scenes.

“It is always heartbreaking to lose an animal that we care about deeply, but even more so to lose a member of a species, or in this case breed, that Zoo New England has been working diligently to conserve,” said John Linehan, President and CEO of Zoo New England. “But even with the devastating loss of Vollavon, there is a glimmer of hope with the arrival of her young foal. We look forward to introducing him to guests at a later date. And in the meantime, visitors can continue to learn about and appreciate this unique heritage breed when they see his charismatic father, nearly 5-year-old Inspector Maigret, at our Children’s Zoo.”

Heritage breeds, like the Poitou donkey, were once common on farms 100 years ago. But now many of these farm animals are in danger of extinction. Poitou donkeys are a breed developed in the Poitou region of France. They are notable for their large size, large ears and shaggy coats. The breed nearly went extinct after World War II when motorized vehicles began to take over and the mule demand collapsed. There are only around 2,500 purebred Poitou donkeys in the world, and Franklin Park Zoo is part of a global effort to preserve the breed.