Tributes pour in after Heaton Park’s beloved resident donkey Ralph dies at age 40

The time has come… one of Heaton Park’s beloved resident donkeys, Ralph, has sadly died at the impressive age of 40.

As regular visitors to Manchester‘s largest park may be aware, Ralph the donkey recently celebrated his 40th birthday – which, even more impressively, actually made him 120 in donkey years – and it was a truly incredible achievement for him to reach, especially as The Donkey Sanctuary says that the average life expectancy for a donkey is just over 30 years of age.

But earlier this week, things sadly took a turn for the worse.

Heaton Park‘s Estates Team made the decision to contact a vet for a site visit after identifying some changes with Ralph’s behaviour, and unfortunately, this was found to be caused by a ruptured intestine.

So it’s with ‘deep sadness’ that the park had to announce to the public that Ralph passed away later that afternoon.

“Ralph meant a lot to many, both staff and all our visitors, and he will be deeply missed within the park,” Heaton Park & Hall said in tribute to their beloved friend on social media this week.

They also shared an adorable image of him when he was just a young foal.

Those who had the pleasure of seeing Ralph roam the park over the past four decades soon began flooding the comments, sharing their own emotional tributes to the friendly face who’s sadly no longer with us.

“Sleep easy buddy, you had a wonderful charmed life and you deserved it,” one touching comment read on Facebook, while another added: “Aww Godspeed Ralph, you had a happy life, now its time to rest,” and a third commented: “So sorry to hear this sad news about Ralph, but glad to know he has enjoyed a long and happy life.”

Another tribute reads: “RIP Ralph, you brought a lot of joy to a lot of people,” as does this similar one: “Aww bless him. He’d had a long and happy life, and gave much happiness too.”

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Many also took the time to thank the Heaton Park team for looking after him so well for all these years.

Featured Image – Heaton Park & Hall (via Facebook)