KEALAKEKUA — Loneliness isn’t just a human phenomenon. Its existence has been well documented throughout the animal kingdom, from elephants to primates to canines. ADVERTISING KEALAKEKUA — Loneliness isn’t just a human phenomenon. Its existence has been well documented throughout
KEALAKEKUA — Loneliness isn’t just a human phenomenon. Its existence has been well documented throughout the animal kingdom, from elephants to primates to canines.
It’s even prevalent with donkeys, the beasts of burden that served a fundamental function in the development of the coffee industry on Hawaii Island.
This week, perhaps the island’s most famous donkey — Charlie, the 30-year-old pack animal who has spent the better part of the past 15 years as a staple of the Kona Coffee Living History Farm — finally found himself a friend to share the load.
The Kona Historical Society, which operates the farm, announced Tuesday that its crowdfunding campaign, “Charlie Needs a Bestie,” resulted in the donation of a 6-month old donkey.
“We used to joke his only friends were chickens,” said Gavin Miculka, assistant program director at the Kona Historical Society.
The new animal, yet to be named, won’t just fill a void in Charlie’s personal life, but one day will take over demonstration duties at the farm, during which visitors are offered a glimpse of how the coffee industry operated in Kona during the first half of the 20th century.
The new companion was donated by Gary Yamagata, a fourth-generation Kona coffee farmer at Yamagata Farms, which was started in 1898.
Yamagata said he offered the young donkey to help preserve historical authenticity at the only living history coffee museum in the United States.
“Donkeys played an important role in the setting up of the coffee industry years ago,” he said. “That was our main way of packing the coffee from the field to the point where it could be taken to the mill.”
Miculka described the new friends’ first interaction as a heartwarming affair.
“When we unloaded the donkey, Charlie’s ears went up. When we brought her over to him, he was very curious,” Miculka said. “It was really cute just watching them nuzzle each other, nose to nose.”
The crowdfunding campaign began in December 2015 and raised just shy of $10,000 from more than 90 donors around the world.
“The community was a crucial component in making improvements to our pasture and bringing the second donkey to the farm,” Miculka said.
Email Max Dible at mdible@westhawaiitoday.com.
