A Brazilian farmer has been bitten to death by a donkey that allegedly knocked him to the ground and tore out his throat as well as taking chunks out of his arms and legs.
Jose Paulo Celestino da Silva, 39, was found dead covered in bite marks and bleeding from his limbs and neck on a farm near the rural Brazillian municipality of Currais Novos this week (18th August).
Local news site g1 reports Paulo was found lying in the dirt with the donkey stood not far away with its legs and mouth covered in bloodstains.
Despite their passive reputation, donkeys are actually one of the most dangerous animals that can be found on farms, and traditionally have been used to protect other livestock not only from thieves but also from wild dogs or wolves.
They are still used in some places to guard flocks against coyotes where their protective instinct makes them dangerous for humans as well, especially to dog walkers, with some speculation that donkeys kill more people than die in plane crashes each year, according to safetyrisk.net.
In the images of the latest incident, the farmer can be seen lying face down in the dirt with his yellow shirt stained in blood.
Sergeant Antoniony, from the 3rd Company of the Military Police, said: “Paulo showed no signs of having been attacked by a human.”
He added: “It’s been deduced that the donkey may have knocked him to the ground and then taken several bites out of him.”
Local sources told g1 that the donkey was notorious among locals for being very aggressive when approached although there were no prior reports of it biting anyone.
It is not clear if the police are going to investigate the case any further.
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