Gaborone — Botswana’s government has moved to crack down on the multibillion-dollar trade in donkey skins following a spate of killings of the animals across the country fuelled by soaring demand from China. Export licences for donkeys and their products have been suspended indefinitely, the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security said in a statement late on Wednesday. Many thousands of donkeys have been slaughtered in Botswana and in other developing countries in recent years and their skins sold to China for use in traditional medicine. Donkeys are being killed in growing numbers to feed demand from China where the skins are used to make a natural medicine believed to be a sexual stimulant with anti-ageing properties. Hooves also contain the supposedly medicinal gelatine, while the meat, consumed in parts of China, is believed to be more nutritious than beef and is enjoyed in burgers and stews. Botswana is the sixth African country to impose restrictions on donkey e...
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