IN the Northern Territory there exist some vast tracts of mainly arid and desolate country between the creeks that form the headwaters of the Roper River. This area is lightly timbered and usually sun-parched brown decorated with a mosaic pattern of criss-crossing water courses. Other than buffaloes, the only other introduced animals that inhabit this wasteland are scrub cattle, brumbies and donkeys.
My first introduction to wild donkeys dates back to the early 1960s. I’d been hunting buffaloes with Wally Brummel, who was working as a mechanic on Beswick station. One morning he told me that an old mate from my roo shooting days — Hilton Connolly from Surat, Queensland — and his offsider Nev Horribin were nearby and wanted to catch up. They were shooting donkeys and brumbies for a
