Perry, the Barron Park donkey, has died

Perry, the beloved Barron Park donkey who served as the real-life model for the 2001 film “Shrek,” has died, according to the volunteers who cared for him. He was 30.

Jenny Kiratli, the lead handler of the Barron Park Donkey Project, issued the following statement:

“It is with great sadness that I am reporting the death of the incomparable Perry. We are heartbroken with his passing, but recently he had been in increasing pain, suffering from a condition known as laminitis which is not curable. This was the right time (for him) to say goodbye although still too soon for us.”

“In Perry’s last weeks, handlers spent many hours at the pasture with him, petting him, cradling him, singing to him, and telling him that he was and always will be loved. We are all blessed for having known him and we will never, ever forget him.”

Plans for a memorial service haven’t been announced.

Perry has lived in Barron Park since 1997. He was one of three donkeys who roamed a pasture next to the creek in the west end of the neighborhood, abutting the Stanford Research Park.

Perry has become a mascot for the city of Palo Alto, and City Council last year spent $10,000 to help with his medical bills.

Donkeys in Barron Park date back to the 1950s, when Cornelius Bol added donkeys to his farm that later became Bol Park.

The Barron Park Donkey Project began in the 1990s after four volunteers helped care for the donkeys when the Bol family was no longer able.

Perry was the model for the donkey in “Shrek.”

Pacific Data Images, or PDI, came to visit the pasture and took many pictures of Perry to learn about what donkeys look like and how they move, according to the Donkey Project’s website.

The company donated only $75 to the pasture, and Perry was not mentioned in the credits, the Donkey Project said.

Perry, short for Pericles, was donated in 1997 by a Woodside equestrian who kept the donkey around her thoroughbreds as a calming companion.

Donkeys can live to be 25 to 30 years old in the wild and into their 40s if they are cared for by people, according to the Donkey Project’s FAQ page.

More information will be posted here at padailypost.com as it arrives in our newsroom.