The Cotentin donkey (Equus asinus) has been present on all small farms in Lower Normandy for centuries. Its main use was as a pack animal for the transportation of cow milk from the pastures to the farm, but it could also be harnessed for work in the crops. If butter, cream, and cheese have spearheaded Norman gastronomy, it is perhaps also thanks to the Cotentin donkey. In the middle of the 20th century, the Manche department alone had 4,000 Cotentin donkeys, but today there are only a few hundred left.