Fans Mourn Death Of Perry The Donkey, Who Inspired Shrek's Character

Perry, the donkey who inspired Eddie Murphy's character in the Shrek films, has died at the age of 30. Perry resided at the Barron Park in Palo Alto, California. His memorial plans will be announced soon, Barron Park Donkeys wrote in an Instagram post.

"We are heartbroken to share that our beloved Barron Park donkey, Perry, passed away yesterday at the age of 30. He was a beloved member of our community and we know many people will be touched by his passing," they added.

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Mourning Perry's death in the comments section, a person wrote, "RIP Perry, you were a great donkey and you will be missed. Fly high.” 

"30 years of nothing but a pure legacy," read another comment.

“I'll miss you so much, thanks for giving me such an amazing childhood,” said a fan.

"Sweet Perry, I wish you could've lived comfortably for many more years. Graze that grass beyond the rainbow bridge as much as you'd like," said another person.

Perry had lived in Barron Park since 1997 and he was a mascot for the city of Palo Alto, California. Detailing the last few hours of his life, the group wrote, "In his last weeks he was in pain and was suffering increasingly from a condition known as laminitis which is not curable. In Perry's last weeks, all of the 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."  

Perry was donated to the pasture in 1997. He served as the stand-in for Donkey from Shrek, which took shape after Pacific Data Images (PDI) visited Barron Park to take his pictures. To bring the animated version of the donkey in the film, numerous photos of Perry were taken to gather information about the appearance and movement of the animal. 

With a global box office collection of over $492 million and the first-ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, Shrek became one of the most successful animated movies in cinematic history and later inspired a franchise. However, Perry's name was not included in the movie's credits.