Reche Canyon Burros Block Traffic Early Tuesday: CHP

RECHE CANYON, CA — Drivers heading southbound on Reche Canyon Road came face to face with a barrage of burros Tuesday morning, according to California Highway Patrol dispatch officers.

Shortly before 7 a.m., witnesses say that at least one donkey was blocking the southbound lanes. CHP dispatch said that drivers on Reche Canyon Road near Manton Road were "forced to swerve to avoid" the four-legged commuters.

CHP and San Bernardino Animal Care and Control officers responded to the scene, and no other information was immediately available.

SB County Animal Care and Control officers work regularly with local nonprofits to relocate the free-roaming burros from this area to rescues as a service to residents of the Reche Canyon area of San Bernardino County.

"Donkey herds typically double in size every four years, and as the wild burro population increases, so does the destruction of private property and the risk of traffic hazards for both residents and burros," a spokesperson for the Animal Care offices said. "The wild burros are constantly threatened with being struck by vehicles or deadly encounters with other man-made objects."

According to the county, wild burros have roamed the San Bernardino and Riverside County hillsides since the 1800s, when farmers and miners released them into Reche and San Timoteo canyons. "Prolific procreators, the burros are now estimated to number into the thousands."