# The UK-based charity The Donkey Sanctuary says almost six-million donkeys are slaughtered annually for Chinese medicine, with severe knock-on effects for African villagers who rely on the animals. It is driven by an increase in China’s production of ejiao, a product marketed as a health supplement that uses collagen from donkey skins. China, whose donkey population has plummeted from 11-million in 1992 to 1.5-million in 2023, has turned to Africa to meet its demand. With donkey populations falling, the African Union issued a 15-year moratorium on donkey slaughter last year.
China wants Africa’s donkeys to slaughter for collagen