I do not know whether Messenger of Allah ﷺ prohibited (the eating of the domestic ass) due to the fact that they were the beasts of burden for the people, so he (the Holy Prophet) did not like their beasts of burden to be destroyed (as a matter of expediency), or he prohibited the use of the flesh of domestic asses (not as an expediency but as a law of the Shari'ah) on the Day of Khaibar.
لاَ أَدْرِي إِنَّمَا نَهَى عَنْهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ مِنْ أَجْلِ أَنَّهُ كَانَ حَمُولَةَ النَّاسِ فَكَرِهَ أَنْ تَذْهَبَ حَمُولَتُهُمْ أَوْ حَرَّمَهُ فِي يَوْمِ خَيْبَرَ لُحُومَ الْحُمُرِ الأَهْلِيَّةِ