Johannesburg - The demand for donkeys is exploding in South Africa to feed the “cruel demand” for their skins in Asian countries, highly-prized as a medicinal tonic to prevent ageing and boost the immune system.
In the most recent case this week, a team from the Polokwane SPCA had to deal with 41 dead and dying donkeys which were intercepted while being transported from Limpopo to an equine abattoir in Randfontein.
“The donkey hide industry is exploding in South Africa right now because there’s so much money to be made from it overseas,” explains Grace de Lange, the head of the NSPCA’s farm animal unit.
The burgeoning trade is “cruel, horrendous and despicable”, she says.
“There is a lot of illegal slaughter going on - donkeys are allowed to be slaughtered in South Africa but proper method of transporting them and killing them has to be adhered to.
In the Limpopo case, 41 donkeys were loaded on to a flat-bed truck which had slippery metal flooring and makeshift wooden pole side rails.
“Adult males, females and foals were all in the same compartment with most of the animals in a state of collapse, crushed, dead or dying.
“Humane emergency euthanasia was undertaken to end the suffering of these poor animals.” De Lange says the four men responsible, all foreign nationals, were arrested.
Their case was postponed to Wednesday, when they will face several charges of animal cruelty. “Donkeys are being stolen and communities are selling them to people who are rounding them up for this trade in China. It’s very worrying and I don’t think we’ve even scraped the surface.
“We’re getting more and more reports and are following several leads.”
Donkey hide contains gelatin, which is believed to be valuable for medicinal purposes, including containing anti-ageing properties, treating insomnia and improving blood circulation.
The gelatin is a key ingredient in the country’s E Jiao industry, which makes tablets, tonics and a sweet syrup, says the NSPCA.
The skins are soaked and stewed to produce or release this substance.
In recent months, both Burkino Faso and Niger have reportedly banned the export of donkeys to China, where its own donkey populations have plummeted, according to a report, which cites how demand there has become unsustainable. “Niger announced a ban on the export of donkeys in September after trade of the animals increased by three times in the past year, mainly to Asian countries.”
Annemarie van Zijl, from the Eseltjiesrus donkey sanctuary in the Western Cape, says there is increasing evidence that the donkey skin trade is “working its way southwards” from other parts of Africa.
“It’s more prevalent in the northern parts of South Africa, and depends where there is a fairly large population of donkeys.
“Very small rural settlements depend entirely on donkeys to transport their water, crops and materials to local market.
“The value of their skin is phenomenally higher than any live donkey in South Africa. The entire population can be wiped out like this - and it has economic impacts for communities that are dependent on their animals.”
In a recent case, 42 donkeys were reportedly stolen in Mmaku, in North West, their carcasses discovered on a property owned by a Chinese businessman, while the NSPCA has bust other operations in recent months.
In July, NSPCA teams had to put down 70 donkeys - on a Chinese-owned farm in the Free State - that were due to be slaughtered and exported.
They had gone without food and water for two weeks.
Saturday Star