The burro, or donkey, the faithful beast of burden associated with the biblical image of the Christian Holy Family, or with Sancho Panza in 'Don Quixote,' or which served as the inspiration for 'Platero and I' by Spanish author Juan Ramón Jiménez, is at risk of extinction in Chile. The burro population in this country declined by 40 percent over the last 30 years, and there are just 22,213 of these animals left, according to counts by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

Burros are mostly concentrated in the semi-arid Fourth Region of Chile, some 450 km north of Santiago, where they are used for carrying harvests on chili and paprika farms.