The exact origins of the Poitou breed are unknown, but donkeys and their use in the breeding of mules may have been introduced to the
Poitou region of France by the
Roman Empire. The Baudet de Poitou and the
Mulassière ('mule mare')
horse breed (also known as the Poitevin) were developed together for the use of producing superior mules. In the
Middle Ages, owning a Poitou donkey may have been a
status symbol among the local
French nobility. It is not known when the Poitou's distinctive characteristics were gained but they seem to have been well-developed by 1717 when an advisor to King
Louis XV described: There is found, in northern Poitou, donkeys which are as tall as large mules. They are almost completely covered in hair a half-foot long with legs and joints as large as a those of a
carriage horse. In the mid-1800s, Poitevin mules were "regarded as the finest and strongest in France", As mechanization increased around
World War II, mules became outmoded, and population numbers for both mules and donkeys dropped dramatically. The conservation efforts in the latter decades of the twentieth century and the early years of the twenty-first were successful, and a 2005 survey revealed 450
purebred registered animals. This number had dropped below 400 by 2011. The French
stud-book for the breed is split into two sections. The first, Livre A, is for purebred animals with documented Poitou parentage on both sides of their pedigree. The second, Livre B, is for animals with one purebred Poitou parent. The
American Livestock Breeds Conservancy lists the Poitou as "critical" on its Conservation Priority List, a category for breeds with less than 2,000 animals worldwide and less than 200 registrations annually in the US. In 2001, scientists in Australia successfully implanted a Poitou
embryo created by
artificial insemination in the
womb of a
Standardbred mare. Worries that joint problems might prevent a healthy pregnancy in the
foal's biological mother led to the initiative. The resultant foal became one of three Poitou donkeys in Australia. The procedure was unusual because it is often difficult for members of one
Equus species to accept implanted embryos from another species in the same genus.
In the United States Historical records exist of several sets of exports of Poitous from France to the US during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including a 1910 import of 10 donkeys. Most of these were integrated into the generic pool of donkey bloodstock, rather than being bred pure. During this time, Poitous were used in the creation of the
American Mammoth Jack breed. Due to high purchase and transportation costs, the breed played a smaller role in the development of the Mammoth Jack than some breeders would have preferred. Imports to the US continued until at least 1937, when a successful breeding jack name Kaki, who stood high, was brought to the country. The 1940s through the 1960s saw a dearth of Poitou imports, and only a few arrived between 1978 and the 1990s. By 1996, there were estimated to only be around 30 Poitous in North America. but Hamilton has pioneered the use of artificial insemination using frozen
semen in the breed, in order to use genetic material from France to improve Poitou herds in the US. The North American Baudet de Poitou Society, organized by the American Donkey and Mule Society, is the American registry for the breed, coordinating with French officials for inspections and registrations of American-bred Poitou stock. == Characteristics ==