In accordance with a report revealed in June by a U.Ok.-based charity, almost 6 million donkeys are killed yearly globally to provide a standard Chinese language drugs referred to as Ejiao. This downside of animal cruelty, in line with knowledge and experiences, is fuelled by a spot between demand and provide in China. It has additionally led to many different points spanning a number of nations throughout continents.
The demand for Ejiao in China, a medication derived from the gelatin in donkey hides, has surged in current many years. It’s believed to have many well being advantages, equivalent to bettering the immune system and curing anaemia although these advantages should not scientifically confirmed.
In 2013, about 3,200 tonnes of Ejiao had been produced, which required greater than 1 million donkey hides. The quantity of Ejiao produced elevated by 390% to fifteen,700 tonnes in 2021, which required shut to six million donkey hides.
The Donkey Sanctuary, a U.Ok.-based NGO, estimates in a report, ‘Stolen Donkeys, Stolen Future’, that this may enhance to 18,000 tonnes by 2027. In different phrases, China would require 6.8 million donkey hides then. The chart beneath exhibits the quantity of ejiao produced and the estimated variety of donkey hides required
Information exhibits that assembly this surging demand for Ejiao, a booming trade in China, has come at an unsustainable value. The donkey inhabitants in China has declined significantly in current many years, as rising demand for donkey hides has outstripped home provide.
The donkey inhabitants plummeted from 11 million in 1990 to simply 1.5 million in 2023 — that’s, by 87% over in over three many years. The chart exhibits the donkey inhabitants in China throughout years (in hundreds of thousands).
Because of this provide hole, China has needed to import donkey hides from nations in South America, equivalent to Colombia and Brazil; and in Africa, equivalent to Ethiopia, and Kenya. Information exhibits that African nations accounted for 51% of all equine hides imported by China within the final decade (2015-2025), adopted by South America and Asia. The chart exhibits the region-wise share of equine hides imported by China within the final decade (2015-2025)
Foals, adults, pregnant, and even injured donkeys are transported in poor situations and finally pushed into slaughterhouses to gasoline this worldwide commerce. This poses the chance of not solely zoonotic ailments, but in addition the exploitation of already weak donkey populations worldwide.
This has been evident in some African and South American nations, which have recorded steep declines of their donkey populations as a consequence of their commerce with China. The chart exhibits the donkey inhabitants in choose African and South American nations
In Egypt, as an illustration, the inhabitants of donkeys decreased from 3.1 million within the Nineteen Nineties to 1 million in 2020s (68%). Steep declines had been additionally recorded in South Africa, Brazil, and South Africa.
The commerce has additionally include a value for communities that rely closely on donkeys. For weak teams in a few of these nations, donkeys play a significant position in transporting items and assembly home wants, supporting the livelihoods of many poor households.
The Donkey Sanctuary factors out that when donkeys are stolen, it’s typically girls who’re compelled to tackle the work that the animals as soon as did. In Ghana, ladies are even pulled out of college early to shoulder these burdens.
The report additionally exhibits that the commerce has led to a surge in donkey costs. For example, the price of a donkey in Kenya elevated from £78 in 2016 to £156 in 2019. Information experiences present that the worth of a donkey in Pakistan, China’s newest market, had surged to ₹2 lakh in June this yr.
Though the African Union imposed a continent-wide ban on donkey exports in 2024, there continues to be a surge in unlawful commerce in donkey hides in lots of nations, with households continuously reporting that their animals are being stolen.
The info for the charts had been sourced from the Donkey Sanctuary’s report ‘Stolen Donkeys, Stolen Futures’, the Meals and Agriculture Group of the United Nations Database, and the Common Administration of Customs of the Individuals’s Republic of China (GACC)
Printed – August 20, 2025 07:00 am IST
