Donkeys: The World's Overlooked Livestock
There are approximately 40–50 million donkeys in the world, with the vast majority in low- and middle-income countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Donkeys are critical to the livelihoods and food security of an estimated 500–900 million of the world's poorest people — carrying water, fuel, and goods; plowing fields; and enabling commerce in areas without roads or mechanized transport.
Despite this vital role, donkeys receive almost no policy attention, minimal veterinary resources, and severe welfare conditions in most parts of the world. They are the animals of the poor — economically essential but largely invisible to welfare advocates and policymakers focused on larger commercial livestock or companion animals.
~500M+
People whose livelihoods depend on donkeys
~5M
Donkey skins traded annually for ejiao (est.)
Core Welfare Challenges for Working Donkeys
Overloading
Endemic across regions: Donkeys routinely carry or pull loads significantly exceeding their physiological capacity — often 2–3 times recommended welfare limits. Owners frequently do not know safe load guidelines, and economic pressure incentivizes maximizing loads. Chronic overloading causes musculoskeletal injuries, foot problems, and prolonged pain.
Harness Sores and Wounds
Preventable suffering: Ill-fitting, poorly maintained harnesses cause severe sores on the withers, back, and mouth. In tropical climates, flies lay eggs in wounds creating myiasis (maggot infestation) that can be fatal if untreated. Basic harness fitting and wound management could prevent enormous suffering; the barrier is lack of owner knowledge and access to materials.
Water and Nutrition
Chronic deprivation: Working donkeys frequently perform heavy labor in hot climates with inadequate water access. Donkeys have lower water requirements than horses but still suffer significantly from dehydration during long working days without water access. Nutritional deficiency — poor-quality feed, insufficient quantity — is also widespread, causing poor body condition and reduced disease resistance.
Veterinary Access
Minimal care: In most low-income countries, donkeys rarely receive veterinary treatment. Conditions that cause chronic pain — lameness, dental disease, eye conditions, wounds — go untreated throughout the animal's working life. The economic status of donkey owners means even low-cost treatments are often unaffordable without external support.
Working While Sick or Injured
Because donkeys are stoic animals that mask pain — an evolutionary adaptation that prevents predators from targeting them — owners frequently cannot recognize when their donkey is sick or in pain. A donkey may continue working through significant illness or injury until it collapses. Training owners to recognize pain and illness is one of the most impactful welfare interventions available.
The Ejiao Crisis: China's Demand for Donkey Skin
Ejiao is a traditional Chinese medicine product made from boiled donkey skin. Demand for ejiao has grown dramatically as China's middle class has expanded — it is marketed as a beauty and health supplement. This demand has created a global crisis for donkey populations:
Devastating impact: To supply the ejiao industry, an estimated 4–8 million donkeys are slaughtered annually for their skins. Because donkeys reproduce slowly (one foal per year, 12-month gestation), populations cannot recover at this rate. Donkey populations have collapsed in many African countries within a decade — Ethiopia lost approximately 30% of its donkeys in a few years, Kenya 20%, Niger and Burkina Faso similarly. This has devastated the livelihoods of communities that depend on donkeys for daily survival.
Welfare during slaughter: Ejiao-related slaughter is frequently conducted in informal facilities with minimal welfare standards. Long-distance transport of donkeys to slaughter facilities — often across multiple countries in severely overcrowded and brutal conditions — causes intense suffering before death.
Responses
- Multiple African countries including Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Botswana, Tanzania, Uganda, and Ethiopia have banned donkey skin trade — with varying enforcement effectiveness
- The Donkey Sanctuary has led advocacy on ejiao including reports on the trade's welfare and livelihoods impact
- Lobbying of Chinese government to regulate and reduce ejiao production
- Consumer campaigns targeting ejiao brands in China
Regional Welfare Profiles
| Region | Key Countries | Primary Use | Main Welfare Issues |
|---|
| West Africa | Senegal, Mali, Niger, Nigeria | Transport, agriculture | Overloading, harness wounds, ejiao trade |
| East Africa | Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania | Transport, water collection | Ejiao slaughter, overloading, limited vet access |
| South Asia | India, Pakistan, Afghanistan | Brick kiln work, transport | Brick kiln conditions, overloading, wounds |
| Middle East | Egypt, Morocco, Yemen | Agriculture, transport | Overloading, harness wounds, conflict impacts |
| Latin America | Mexico, Bolivia, Peru | Agriculture, mining | Load limits, veterinary access |
| Central Asia | Afghanistan, Pakistan | Transport, agriculture | Conflict impacts, limited vet access |
The Brooke: World's Leading Donkey Welfare Organization
Global reach: The Brooke (UK-based) operates the world's most extensive working equid welfare program, reaching donkeys, horses, and mules in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Programs include:
- Mobile veterinary clinics reaching remote communities
- Training farriers in proper hoof care and nail removal
- Owner education on load management, water provision, harness fitting, and recognizing pain
- Community champion programs that build lasting local welfare capacity
- Advocacy with governments on working animal welfare legislation
The Brooke has treated tens of millions of animals in its history and operates one of the best-evidenced welfare intervention programs in the animal welfare world.
The Donkey Sanctuary
Rescue and global advocacy: The Donkey Sanctuary (UK/Ireland-based) operates sanctuaries for rescued donkeys in Europe and internationally, while also running development programs for working donkeys in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It has been the leading voice on the ejiao crisis and produces world-leading research on donkey behavior, health, and welfare.
The Donkey Sanctuary's Five Domains welfare framework for donkeys — covering nutrition, environment, health, behavioral interaction, and mental state — provides a comprehensive model for assessing and improving donkey welfare that can be applied across contexts.
What Works: Evidence-Based Interventions
- Owner education: Teaching owners to recognize pain, manage loads, fit harnesses correctly, and provide adequate water — consistently the highest-impact, lowest-cost intervention
- Farrier training: Proper hoof care prevents lameness; community farrier training programs sustain welfare beyond NGO intervention periods
- Wound treatment and prevention: Simple wound management (cleaning, fly protection, rest) prevents escalation to life-threatening conditions
- Community champion models: Training respected community members as welfare advocates creates lasting behavior change without ongoing external presence
- Government engagement: Welfare improvements in government veterinary extension services have far greater scale than any NGO program
Cost-effectiveness: Brooke estimates its programs reach working animals at a cost of approximately $1–3 per animal per year — making working donkey welfare one of the most cost-effective animal welfare interventions available.