Chinese medicine fuelling rise in donkey slaughter for global skin trade
by Katherine Purvis from Environment | The Guardian on (#2AP5K)
Demand for hide, used to make traditional ejiao, has raised the price and rate of slaughter of donkeys, endangering the livelihoods of those who rely on them
This trade is threatening livelihoods and communities - we need to act now
Thousands of donkeys in developing countries are being killed and their skins sold to China for use in traditional medicine, reveals a report published today by the Donkey Sanctuary.
Demand for donkey hide, which is boiled to produce gelatine - the key ingredient in a medicine called ejiao - has raised the price and the rate of slaughter of the animals, threatening the livelihoods of poor communities who rely on the them.