The government of Kenya announced a ban on the slaughter of donkeys after being presented with a petition earlier this week by donkey owners who marched to the Cabinet Secretary’s office.
As previously reported by WAN, the unprecedented and unsustainable demand for donkey skins is being driven by a rapid growth in popularity of a traditional Chinese medicine called ejiao.
Plummeting donkey numbers in China led ejiao manufacturers to source donkeys from Africa and Kenya.
“If this trend continues, the donkeys will be decimated and the economy will be affected in a huge way,” Kenya’s Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Hon Peter Munya said in a statement.
Munya then affirmed that the Government has therefore decided to stop the slaughter and the trade in products made from donkeys.
Prior to the new ban on the slaughtering and export of donkey skins and associated products in Kenya, it was estimated that up to 1,000 donkeys were slaughtered every day.
The four donkey abattoirs in the country must now shut down within one month.
Petra Ingram, Chief Executive at Brooke Action for Working Horses and Donkeys, called the news “tremendous.” Brooke declared the situation a crisis in 2019, when research predicted donkeys in Kenya could be wiped out in just a few years if no action was taken.
“After months of Brooke supporting donkey owners and campaigning against the trade, we are delighted that the Kenyan government has made the right decision to protect donkeys and the communities who depend on them,” Ingram said in a statement. “This is also an important and vital step towards giving this issue the attention it deserves, and extending a ban across Africa and beyond.”
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