Virgin Islands Donkey Rescue

Virgin Islands Donkey Rescue aims to rescue, rehabilitate, and care for the donkeys of St. John. Operated out of Carolina Corral in Coral Bay on St. John, VI Donkey Rescue has been helping the donkeys of St. John since 1993.

The St. John donkeys were originally imported in the 1700s to work on the island’s then numerous sugar plantations. After slavery was abolished and the sugar industry crumbled on St. John many plantations closed. The donkeys were then either turned loose or put to work hauling water, wood, charcoal and the occasional load of kids to school until as late as the 1970s. Today the island donkey population, which numbers under 100, roams free from Cruz Bay to Coral Bay, and are a favorite island dweller among locals and tourists.