Report highlights biosecurity hazard as it warns 4.8m donkeys are slaughtered every year to make ejiao, a traditional Chinese remedy
The illicit trade in donkey skins driven by China sees nearly five million animals killed each year and is a “ticking time bomb” for the spread of infectious diseases among humans, according to a new report.
It is estimated that about 13,000 donkeys are slaughtered every day for their skins around the world, equivalent to 4.8 million a year, which go on to be turned into ejiao, a traditional Chinese remedy.
Practitioners say, with no scientific evidence, that ejiao helps with everything from fatigue and boosting the immune system to the suppression of cancerous tumours.
Now, The Donkey Sanctuary, a British charity based in Devon, has warned that the booming but illegal trade risks spreading zoonotic diseases, infections that are capable of jumping from animals into humans, like the Covid-19 virus.