A herd of rescued donkeys is doing the slow, steady work of stopping wildfires before they start in southern Spain.

Near Doñana National Park, 18 donkeys spend each day grazing on dry grass, shrubs and scrub vegetation that can fuel fires during Spain’s hot, dry summers. The animals are part of a project led by the nonprofit El Burrito Feliz and supported by volunteers from Mujeres por Doñana.

The donkeys are released every day from March through November into hard-to-reach areas where fire crews and heavy equipment often cannot easily operate. Working up to seven hours a day, they clear vegetation simply by eating it.

The nonprofit calls them “herbivorous firefighters.”

The project began in 2014. Since then, Doñana has not recorded a single forest fire.

The donkeys are especially suited to the work because, unlike cattle or sheep, they can eat much tougher and drier plants.

Among the herd are Mortadelo, Magallanes, Leonor, Ainoa and their unofficial leader, Galileo.

Galileo was rescued as a young donkey in extremely poor health and spent his first few months recovering in a dog shelter before finding a permanent home with El Burrito Feliz. His caretakers say he picked up a few canine habits there. They say he sniffs like a dog and has even tried to bark, giving him a reputation as the donkey who thinks he’s a dog.

The animals are accompanied through the day by volunteers from Mujeres por Doñana, who haul carts filled with buckets of water so the donkeys can stay hydrated while they graze.

The project has also drawn attention from Spain’s Military Emergency Unit, whose members visited and symbolically adopted one of the donkeys in recognition of its service.

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