Perry, beloved donkey of Bol Park, dies at 30

Perry, a beloved miniature donkey who has been a fixture of Bol Park for nearly three decades and who famously served as the model for the Donkey character in “Shrek,” was euthanized on Thursday after battling a painful hoof disease, Jenny Kiratli, the donkey’s handler, told this publication. He was 30.

Perry has been at the park since 1997 and had spent much of his life in the company of Miner Forty Niner, who died in 2016. Prior to his passing on Thursday night, he was one of three donkeys at the Bol Park pasture, along with April and Buddy.

Kiratli said that Perry had been suffering from laminitis, a hoof disease that caused him excruciating pain. He also had a disorder on his left hind leg, which made it painful for him to use that leg. He often kept it lifted, which added extra weight to his right side.

“For a month, he had just been standing on three legs and keeping one lifted,” Kiratli said.

Kiratli, who is one of three dozen staff members who take care of the Bol Park donkeys, said staff had tried numerous methods to ease his pain, including several months of acupuncture that was followed by laser light therapy and warm massage. But it became apparent earlier this week that his condition was not improving.

“He has clearly been in a lot of pain. He’s been on a lot of pain medicine. And we had handlers there all day long, just watching and hoping something would improve,” Kiratli said.

Perry’s death was peaceful, she said. He was kept in constant company, and more than a dozen handlers were with him when he passed, she said. After he was euthanized, he remained in the pasture for several hours so that April and Buddy could understand that their companion has passed.

“Through the night they were moving up, nosing in, understanding that he was gone. They grieved,” she said.

She described Perry as feisty and funny, extremely fond of Jenny and prone to playfully nipping the occasional visitor in the butt. As recently as Thursday morning, he was playing with a stick, picking it up and shaking it around. His playful personality and decades of entertaining visitors has made him an endearing local personality, with Mayor Greer Stone and other dignitaries flocking to Bol Park last June to celebrate Perry’s 30th birthday. The city also contributed $10,000 last year to Perry’s medical costs.

From left, Amara Fernandes, Macy Li and Vandana Ravi pose for a photo with Barron Park donkey Perry at Bol Park in Palo Alto on May 28, 2019 after the Palo Alto Humane Society’s Ambassadors for Compassion short story competition awards ceremony. Fernandes and Li were received honorable mentions and Ravi was the first-place winner for her story “Snapshot,” which centered around the donkeys. Photo by Veronica Weber.

Outside Palo Alto, he is best known for serving as an inspiration for Donkey, the character voiced by Eddie Murphy in “Shrek.” Kiratli said one of the animators for Shrek lived near Bol Park and his wife directed him to the donkey pasture because she knew he was working on a donkey character for the new movie. He then brought a team of animators to Bol Park to spend a few hours with Perry.

Karen Holman, a former Palo Alto mayor and long-time champion of the Bol Park donkeys, recalled the various occasions in which she or other visitors would visit Perry. He had a way of lifting people’s spirits and bringing them joy, she said.

“My particular experience with Perry is that he seemed to kind of understand when you were having a bad day,” Holman said.

One time, he bolted from his pasture area and ran up to the gate to greet a man who was standing there. Perry then buried his head in the chest of the man, who Holman then realized was one of the handlers.

Holman also recalled Perry’s special relationship with Jenny, who was brought to the pasture in 2016 and who died in 2020. Initially, the donkey handlers set up a pen at the pasture for Jenny to see whether she and Perry would get along. It became immediately clear, she said, that they would become great friends.

“Perry would go over to the pen for Jenny and he would look at her then he’d throw himself down and roll. Then he would stop midroll and look at her to make sure she was watching. He was big time flirting with her.”

Kiratli said in a post on NextDoor that the handlers are now planning a memorial service for Perry. She called his passing “the end of an era; the loss of an icon.”

“In Perry’s last weeks, handlers spent many hours at the pasture with him, petting him, cradling him, singing to him, and telling him that he was and always will be loved,” Kiratli said. “We are all blessed for having known him and we will never, ever forget him.”

Palo Alto Mayor Greer Stone with Perry the Donkey and Mike, a donkey handler, at Perry’s 30th birthday party in June 2024. Courtesy Karen Holman.

Correction: The story had initially misnamed one of the two donkeys that were allowed to see Perry after he was euthanized. They are April and Buddy.