What type of animal is Eeyore?

Eeyore is a donkey in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories.

A. A. Milne created Eeyore as an anthropomorphic stuffed donkey, and E. H. Shepard illustrated him as an old, grey animal living in the Hundred Acre Wood. He first appeared in the 1926 book Winnie-the-Pooh.

Eeyore is best known for his gloomy, pessimistic personality and his habit of losing the detachable tail fastened to him with a nail. Despite his melancholy, he can be thoughtful, loyal, and compassionate toward the other characters. In the stories, he also enjoys eating thistles.

A common mix-up is confusing Eeyore with a horse or mule. A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse, while Eeyore is specifically identified as a donkey. His name echoes the braying sound associated with donkeys, often written in English as “hee-haw.” Disney adaptations made him one of the franchise’s most recognizable supporting characters, beginning with Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree in 1966.