Editing Mule (section)

== Use ==

While a few mules can carry live weight up to {{convert|160|kg|lb|0|abbr=on|sigfig=2}}, mules can generally be packed with dead weight up to around 90 kg (198 lb).<ref name="Carlton">{{cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=2009 |title=Hunter's Specialties: More With Wayne Carlton On Elk Hunting |url=http://hunterspec.com/content/more-wayne-carlton-elk-hunting |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101008150241/http://hunterspec.com/Updateable/update_display.cfm?pageID=2048&categoryID=12 |archive-date=8 October 2010 |access-date=16 July 2014 |website=hunterspec.com |publisher=Hunter's Specialties}}</ref> Although it depends on the individual animal, mules trained by the [[Army of Pakistan]] are reported to be able to carry up to {{convert|72|kg|lbs|0|abbr=on}} and walk {{convert|26|km|mi|1|abbr=on}} without resting.<ref>{{cite news |last=Khan |first=Aamer Ahmed |date=19 October 2005 |title=Beasts ease burden of quake victims |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4354440.stm |publisher=BBC |access-date=6 April 2010 |archive-date=29 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429210137/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4354440.stm |url-status=live}}</ref>

Mules have uses beyond heavy lifting. In the Abruzzo region of Italy, for example, mules are used to defend herds of animals against predators like wolves and feral dogs. Horse breeders in Italy used to add a female mule to their flocks, finding that the mule tended to protect the foals with even more vigor than the actual mother.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Camillo |first1=Francesco |last2=Rota |first2=Alessandra |last3=Biagini |first3=Lorenzo |last4=Tesi |first4=Matteo |last5=Fanelli |first5=Diana |last6=Panzani |first6=Duccio |title=The Current Situation and Trend of Donkey Industry in Europe |journal=Journal of Equine Veterinary Science |date=June 2018 |volume=65 |pages=44–49 |doi=10.1016/j.jevs.2017.11.008 |hdl=11568/905165 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

Mule trains are also used to deliver food to remote areas of the world. In Nepal, for example, the World Food Programme provides food for children in the Sudurpaschim province with the help of mule drivers.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-25 |title=The backstory: The sherpa of Nepal's Far West {{!}} World Food Programme |url=https://www.wfp.org/stories/backstory-sherpa-nepals-far-west |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=www.wfp.org |language=en}}</ref>

The most recent use for the mule is as a research specimen, especially in studies regarding the slicing, rearrangement, and compatibility of chromosomes.<ref name=":03" />

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Contemporary use of mules">
File:Wagon mules, Talkeetna, Alaska.jpg|Pair, pulling a wagon (2008)
File:20151016-ESP A.MARKUS CJOPCOMMTF-08 (22338729192).jpg|Army mule (2015)
File:Arando con mula en Candeleda.jpg|Plowing (2012)
File:Mule train.jpg|Supply train in the [[Grand Canyon]] (2009)
File:SupaiUSMailMules.jpg|Carrying the mail in rural Arizona (2008)
</gallery>