bray and scarff: It is because donkey is the most hardworking animal domesticated by man. Various cultures put them various uses such as load carrying, farming etc. Some cultures have even used them for milk etc. for more information please visit http://thedonkeydepot.webs.com/welcome.htm|||Human have kept many animals as Domestic animals. Every domestic animal serves different purpose for human - From safety to decoration, from food to cultivation, from detective to space Research. Donkeys eat minimum food (less than 1.5% of their body weight) and can work for maximum hour. Donkeys are not moody. They can work non-stop (average 12 to 16 hours a day) and without showing any for of disobedience to its owner. For the most intelligent human all these qualities are treated as "Most dumb quality" Minimum input and hassle free continuous output !|||Who said they are unsung heroes? They are celebrated in folklore---Think of the Donkey in Shrek, the king who had donkey's ears, the farmer and the son who ended up carrying the donkey, the donkey loaded with salt and later cotton------- We use the term donkey to describe many of our fellow beings! We talk of Kazhuthai vayasu. And all those proverbs--- Kuttiyile kazhuthayum nalla kutti. koornthu paarthal kuthiraiyum kazhuthayakum. Kazhuthaikku theriyuma karpoora vaasanai. Let me share a nice story celebrating a donkey's perseverence which human beings will do well to learn http://www.superlaugh.com/1/fdonkey.htm|||Donkey qualifies truly to be called as a beast of burden as they work and toil for their master, though are not even fed by their masters. Normally they eat anywhere outside and go and work for their masters. Any person who do not think and toil is sometimes equated with a donkey for this reason. They do so not because they are idiots, but their masters are canny.|||I guess because people do not find them interesting enough.just look at the horse,they are lovedby everyone they even have movies that are all about horse(the black stallion for example)i guess donkeys are just too ordinary and mundane.|||Because they generally don't complain, but there's no real reason. Ask the originators of fairy tales. Oh wait, they're all dead.|||They are simple, humble ugly animals.