African Union leaders have agreed to crack down on what the Donkey Sanctuary charity calls a "brutal and unsustainable" business—the slaughter of donkeys for their skin, which is used in traditional Chinese medicine. The charity says the trade, which will be banned in the AU's 55 member states under an agreement signed Sunday, has devastated donkey populations across the continent, the BBC reports. The animals are used to transport people and goods, especially in remote rural communities, but many impoverished families sold their donkeys to Chinese traders after rising demand for Ejaio, made from donkey hides, caused donkey numbers to collapse in China and traders looked overseas.
Ejaio supposedly has anti-aging properties and other health benefits, though the BBC notes that "this is unproven." Calvin Solomon Onyango, director of the Donkey Sanctuary in Kenya, says around half the country's donkeys were killed between 2016 and 2019. "Agents working for the Ejiao industry persuade people, already living on the brink of poverty, to sell their animals for short-term gain," he says, per the Independent. "The reality is the long-term loss of livelihood, and eventually, the loss of a way of life for many communities." Lawmakers in Brazil are also planning to ban the slaughter of donkeys for their hides. (More donkey stories.)
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