SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
A donkey named Hank has set a new world record.
SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
He has ears measuring in at an official 17.12 inches, and those are the longest ears of any living donkey, according to Guinness World Records.
DETROW: Hank is a Mammoth donkey, the largest breed in the world, around the size of a racing horse.
JENNIFER GEE: He stands 61 inches. He's about 1,100 pounds.
PFEIFFER: Hank's owner, Jennifer Gee, lives in Huntersville, Pennsylvania. She says, in addition to having big ears, he's got a big personality.
GEE: He just hangs out at the house, and the grandkids ride him. The neighbor girl rides him. And he's very, very people-friendly, and he's kind of goofy. He likes to always pull, like, little stunts like grabbing onto your zipper or searching your pockets for treats. He's very lovable. He's like a gigantic golden retriever.
DETROW: Gee grew up on a farm and was always around horses and donkeys. She started raising donkeys herself about 15 years ago. After her first donkey died, she bought Hank from a local Pennsylvania breeder.
GEE: We were looking at the donkeys that she was selling, and Hank came up out of the field and walked right up to me and would not let me alone the whole time that we were looking at these other donkeys.
PFEIFFER: Last year, Gee saw an article about the previous record-holding donkey. That's when her husband joked that the real record might belong to Hank.
GEE: My husband has always told me, like, he's got the longest ears I've ever seen. So I went out and measured them. I realized that we have that record beat.
DETROW: So she sent an application in to Guinness World Records. After a bunch of paperwork, plus visits from witnesses and a vet, Hank has officially claimed the world record.
GEE: My husband always says that my mules and donkeys are just hay burners, you know? And I told him that if Hank becomes famous, we're going have a famous ass, and it's not going to be him.
PFEIFFER: What started out as a bit of a joke has become a lot of fun for the Gee family.
GEE: We just laugh about it. It's just something fun. Like, my whole family got into it, and we're getting T-shirts made up.
DETROW: As the new world record holder, Hank gets a certificate, and he will be featured in the 2027 Guinness Book of World Records.
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