Illegal skin trade decimates India’s donkey population
The donkey skin trade is banned in India but an investigation has revealed the hidden presence of the ejiao trade in the region, with the donkey population falling by 61% since 2012.
Globally, hundreds of thousands of donkeys are slaughtered for their skins and exported to China every year to fulfill the growing demand for ejiao, a gelatin used in traditional Chinese medicine that is made by boiling down donkey skin. The trade is banned in India, along with the slaughter of donkeys for meat, but Brooke’s study has found evidence of a dark underbelly, undermining the Indian donkey population.
Illegal skin trade decimates India’s donkey population -- Horsetalk.co.nz - equine news, research, and information