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The increasing demand for beauty products is having a devastating impact on donkey populations and is on track to endanger the species Africareveals a report.

About six million Donkey are slaughtered every year for their skin, from which collagen is extracted for use in food or drink additions and used in beauty products such as facial creams Chinese medicinethat are marketed as luxury products.

China’s The donkey population was hit hard According to The Donkey Sanctuary, the popularity of such products has soared, with the population there declining by 76 percent between 1992 and 2019.

Traders’ focus is now on Africa, which has long had the highest donkey populations in the world but where the species is in crisis, experts warn. Traders either persuade impoverished owners to sell their donkeys – or they steal them through illegal slaughter in the bush.

Trade is driven by increasing demand for the traditional Chinese medicine Ejiaoor donkey skin glue, which manufacturers claim reduces wrinkles, cures anemia, increases energy, and increases libido.

The researchers say that killing the animals for their skins is not only extremely cruel, but also leaves women, children and communities that rely on the animals worse off.

Researchers at The Donkey Sanctuary used fur industry figures and statistical modeling to calculate that 6.7 million pelts will be needed by 2027 to keep up with demand. That’s up from today’s 5.9 million – but researchers say those numbers are their most conservative estimate.

There are around 11 million donkeys in Africa, so the calculation raises alarm bells.

According to the new report, production of the glue increased 160 percent in five years from 2016 to 2021.

And it is called Social media platforms facilitate illegal trade by allowing sellers to advertise.

“Agents working for the ejiao industry persuade people already living on the edge of poverty to sell their animals for short-term profit,” said Calvin Solomon Onyango, director of The Donkey Sanctuary in Kenya.

“The reality is long-term loss of livelihood and eventual loss of a way of life for many communities.

“The destructive impact of the trade has led the governments of countries such as Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania to ban the slaughter of donkeys.

“However, demand is so great that illegal bush slaughter is now occurring, with hundreds of donkeys being taken or stolen and slaughtered for their skin.”

“Based on what we have seen here in Kenya when it comes to the exploitation of donkeys continues at this paceIn another three to six years, donkeys could join rhinos and elephants endangered species in Africa,” said Dr. Onyango.

Donkey slaughter is illegal in some countries and legal in others. On Sunday, African Union leaders will debate whether to ban the massacre across the continent.

It would be the most significant donkey conservation measure ever taken on the African continent, the researchers said.

In Brazil, where many donkeys are also traded and killed for their hides, a bill banning slaughter is expected to be passed in the National Congress this year.

Marianne Steele, chief executive of The Donkey Sanctuary, said: “The slaughter of six million donkeys every year is a disaster Animal protection Catastrophe.

“Donkeys are a lifeline for people living in some of the most difficult environments on earth, where the loss of a donkey can mean the difference between modest survival and poverty.”