African donkey trade ban to slash China’s supply of traditional medicine ejiao
- Chinese demand for the hides accounts for the slaughter of more than 5 million animals each year, many from Africa
- Animal welfare groups have welcomed the African Union’s decision to end the slaughter of donkeys for their skins
Insatiable demand for ejiao – which is said to improve vigour, enrich the blood and have anti-ageing properties – has obliterated China’s own donkey population, leading to huge export industries in Africa and South America.
But the African Union (AU) heads of state on Sunday ratified a motion proposing a 15-year ban on the donkey skin trade. Animal welfare organisations welcomed the decision as an “historic moment”.
The ban was proposed in November by the AU’s specialised technical committee for agriculture, rural development, water and environment and ratified by the leaders, who were in Addis Ababa for the 37th ordinary session of the AU Assembly.
Africa is home to about two-thirds of the world’s donkeys. Ethiopia – with nearly 100 million animals – is said to be the “world’s donkey superpower”. Sudan, Pakistan and Chad are also among the world’s top producers.
Donkeys are stubbornly difficult to breed, with a gestation period that can last more than a year. Any obstacle to China’s imports of their skins is likely to pile on the pressure for the booming ejiao industry.
