[1] It is tall, 1.2–1.35 metres (3 ft 11 in – 4 ft 5 in) at the withers, has long hairy ears, large hooves, pangare markings around its eyes, muzzle and underline, broad forehead, small eyes with projecting orbital arcades, large and strong legs, heavy neck, unobtrusive withers, short and muscular back, and a powerful chest.

[22] The Miranda Plateau [23] is said to represents the decay of the country’s countryside: agriculture is a very difficult and unprofitable business; the young go to the cities and leaving only some of the old behind.

[30] Before roads were paved and dams were built in the 1960s, owners pushed unwanted animals off the cliff over the River Douro,[31][32] "their bones to be picked clean by vultures.

[36] Despite its central role in traditional Portuguese rural life, they were previously looked at as little more than agricultural tools, neglected over the centuries and felt to be poor relatives among the equidae.

[38] With the efforts of the conservationists, this view is changing, and now, after decades of neglect, they are felt to symbolically represent a fading rural cultural tradition.

A socialist mayor in the region opined that “the honest answer is that subsidies bring nothing.”[41] In the past the Miranda donkey was known as the "poor's motor," a docile and safe companion of the rural farmers, its "arms and legs," its entertainment and the one keeping them active and useful.

This is the aim of the preservationists, to keep alive an indigenous breed in order to save a genetic, ecological and cultural heritage unique to Portugal.

20 animals are trekked through two chosen villages accompanied by the bagpipe players and a four day celebration of food, drink and music.

[45] Other factors include a high mortality rate among young foals,[46] and a growing tendency of farmers to resort to hybridization and crossings with different breeds.

[60] Asinoterapia, a branch of animal therapy, uses the donkey as a co-therapist, taking advantage of its natural docility, patience, attentiveness and intelligence.

[64] A successful support program for the mirandes ass has attracted over 1000 people over the last decade for at least a one-year sponsorship of a burro.