Perry, the beloved real-life stand-in for the “Shrek” donkey voiced by Eddie Murphy, has died.
He was 30.
The donkey’s handlers announced his passing on Instagram, detailing that it was from an incurable hoof disease.
“We are heartbroken to share that our beloved Barron Park donkey, Perry, passed away yesterday at the age of 30,” the Barron Park Donkey Project, where he lived before and after his movie-star years, wrote. “He was a beloved member of our community, and we know many people will be touched by his passing. Memorial plans will be announced soon.”
Perry was one of a trio of donkeys that lived in a community-run, private pasture in Palo Alto, California. All three developed fan followings and had regular visitors.
“He was a part of the whole community, and everyone is mourning for him. So many people knew him,” his handler, Jenny Kiratli told People.
In the memorial post, the project managers said the donkey had arrived there at age 3 in 1997, “young and feisty,” but had been suffering for weeks with a painful hoof condition, laminitis. The park was forced to euthanize him, the handlers said.
“Throughout his long life here, Perry captured the hearts of the Barron Park community, and far beyond, with his beautiful soulful eyes, his sweet and gentle disposition, his amiable stroll to the pasture gate to greet his visitors, and of course his contributions to the movie Shrek – as the motion model for the donkey character in the movie,” the donkey project said. “We are all filled with sadness at his passing, but in his last weeks he was in pain and was suffering increasingly from a condition known as laminitis, which is not curable.”
Laminitis is inflammation of the tissue between the hoof and the underlying bone known as the coffin bone, according to the UC Davis Veterinary Medicine Center for Equine Health. Donkeys can live well into their 30s, according to the National Zoo, with 33 years being the average.
“He had a huge personality,” Kiratli said, adding of the “Shrek” character, “I can attest that many of Donkey’s classic head tilts, eye rolls and bouncy trots were straight from Perry.”