NPAT — Episode 4— ‘D’ — Animal

This is a part of the transcript of an episode of a podcast that I run called NPAT. I run down the English alphabet and tell stories about…

This is a part of the transcript of an episode of a podcast that I run called NPAT. I run down the English alphabet and tell stories about names, places, animals, and things (NPAT). linktr.ee/npat

I have lived my life never having to think about donkeys. But they are a primary source of transportation — for both people and goods -say carrying water from distant wells and collecting firewood- for millions across the world. And apparently there is a shortage of donkeys.

This can be attributed to the Chinese appetite for ejiao. ejiao-donkey hide gelatin- is a centuries-old medicine with questionable efficacy. It has grown in popularity in the last decade after companies began marketing it. With local donkey populations decreasing, Chinese companies are now buying donkey skins from developing countries — and unfortunately, most communities that DEPEND on donkeys are from these countries. To meet demands, donkeys are often stolen — say from a village in the Masai (Africa is the epicenter of this trade) — and then sold to abattoirs or other smaller illegal operations — where they die a horrendous death. Another obvious effect is that donkeys are now more expensive, so people can not even replace their stolen animals.

Several countries have imposed a ban on international trade in donkey, donkey meat or donkey skin but there were still some holdouts — like Kenya who continued the trade. Kenya reclassified donkeys as food meat to allow for its trade in 2012, but then in 2020 commercial slaughter was banned. Some argue that the industry had vitalized towns in the area but have been impacted post the ban.

But often in such cases, the problem is so vast and grows and morphs so quickly that local laws cannot catch up.

Indian donkey populations have also seen a stark decline. It does not help that donkeys are no longer the first choice for transporting goods in rural India and hence are not bred as much.

But, now it seems that international pressure is having an effect. Of course, I don’t have the latest updates!

I will link to the sources and further reading — as usual.