The Dark Truth Behind the Donkey Skin Trade: Suffering, Alternatives, and How We Can Help Stop It
- The Young Vegan
- Jun 10
- 4 min read
Pretty much everyone knows that people use donkeys. Out of the 55.5 million donkeys on the planet, 43 million of them are working. People tie bags to them to carry. They strap them to carts and use them as transport. Donkeys are even used as entertainment, giving rides to tourists on beaches and other tourist areas. But one use that is rarely mentioned is the use of donkeys for their skin.
The Donkey Skin Trade
The donkey skin trade is a hidden crisis affecting millions of donkeys worldwide. This trade fuels a booming market driven by demand for a product called ejiao, a traditional Chinese medicine ingredient made from donkey gelatine. Behind this demand lies a harsh reality of animal suffering, environmental damage, and serious ethical concerns.
What Is the Donkey Skin Trade?
The donkey skin trade revolves around harvesting donkey skins to produce ejiao, a gelatine made by boiling donkey hides. Ejiao is prized in traditional Chinese medicine for its supposed health benefits, including improving blood circulation and boosting immunity. The gelatine is also used in cosmetics and health supplements. But none of these claims can be proven.
Donkey skins are collected mainly in Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia, where donkeys are abundant. Countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Mexico have become hotspots for the donkey skins trade. Donkeys are often stolen or bought cheaply from poor communities, then slaughtered for their skins. The skins are then exported, primarily to China, the centre of ejiao production.
How the Trade Works and What It Involves
The process begins with obtaining donkeys. This can be by capturing, buying or stealing the animal. Many donkeys are stolen from rural farmers who rely on them for transport, farming, and daily work. Once collected, donkeys are transported long distances in overcrowded, unsafe conditions. As is common in animal transport, many suffer injuries, dehydration, and exhaustion during transit.
At slaughterhouses, donkeys are killed to remove their skins. The methods used in this unregulated trade are often inhumane, causing pain and distress. After skinning, the hides are dried and shipped to ejiao manufacturers.
The demand for donkey skins has skyrocketed in recent years, leading to a sharp decline in donkey populations in some regions. In China, the donkey population fell from 11.1 million to 2.5 million between 1990 and 2018. This loss has been driven by the increasing demand for ejiao, which has risen from 2.3 to 4.8 million hides per year. Even though several countries have banned the trade or slaughter of donkeys for the production of ejiao, smuggling and illegal slaughter persist.
The Suffering of Donkeys in the Skin Trade
Donkeys endure severe suffering throughout this trade. They face:
Theft and loss of livelihood: Donkeys stolen from farmers and traders lose the people and home that they knew. In these situations, the donkeys are vital for their income and survival.
Cruel transport conditions: Donkeys are packed tightly in trucks or containers without food, water, or rest.
Painful slaughter: Many are killed without anaesthesia or stunning methods.
Population decline: Overexploitation threatens donkey populations, disrupting ecosystems and communities.
Donkeys are also farmed to supply this trade, leading to the same issues found in other forms of animal farming. These include cruelty, distress and the spread of disease. In the communities where donkeys are farmed, poor infrastructure and sanitation are causing disease to spread from the donkeys to other animals and humans. Glanders, a disease that people can catch from animals, causes chronic infection and can even be fatal. This disease is consistently found at higher rates where people work with donkeys.
Why We Don’t Need to Exploit Donkeys for Ejiao
The demand for ejiao is based on traditional beliefs, but modern science not only disproves these beliefs, it offers alternatives. The gelatine in ejiao can be replaced by plant-based or synthetic gelatines that do not involve animal cruelty. Many companies now produce vegan gelatine substitutes that serve the same purpose in food, cosmetics, and medicine.
The growing global interest in vegan and cruelty-free products shows that consumers want ethical choices. By shifting demand away from donkey skin products, we can reduce the incentive for this harmful trade.
How We Can Help Stop the Donkey Skin Trade
Ending the donkey skin trade requires action on multiple levels:
Raise awareness: Share information about the cruelty and impact of the trade. Educated consumers can make informed choices. This includes sharing information on social media.
Support donkey welfare organisations: Groups working to rescue donkeys, provide veterinary care, and advocate for laws need funding and volunteers.
Promote alternatives: Encourage manufacturers and consumers to choose vegan gelatine and cruelty-free products.
Advocate for stronger regulations: Governments must enforce laws against donkey theft and illegal skin exports. We can contact local governments and vote for political parties who support positive change for animals.
Empower communities: Help farmers protect their donkeys through education and resources.
Contact or boycott companies supplying ejiao: Companies like Amazon allow people to buy ejiao directly. We can contact the companies directly, spread information on their practices and boycott them until they change their operations.
Every small step counts. Choosing products without ejiao and supporting ethical brands sends a clear message to the market.
The Bigger Picture: Ethical Consumption and Animal Protection
The donkey skin trade is one example of how animal exploitation continues under the radar. It highlights the need for more ethical consumption habits and stronger animal protection worldwide. By learning about these issues, we become part of a global movement toward kindness and sustainability.
Donkeys have served humanity for centuries, and many communities rely on these animals for their survival. These people love and care for the animals, yet they suffer in silence. Ending the donkey skin trade is a chance to protect these hardworking animals and promote a more compassionate world.
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