General News of Sunday, 12 January 2020Source: washingtonpost.comChinese demand is fueling donkey theft and stressing out farmers in GhanaPower the donkey grazes in Walewale. To Chinese merchants here, donkey hides — a key ingredient in traditional medicines — command big money abroad from producers of skin creams, fertility elixirs and energy drinks. Donkey populations in Ghana and Kenya, hot spots in this skin trade, are on track to be “devastated” in the near future, the researchers warned. Similar data is lacking for Ghana, but experts say donkeys are being slaughtered at an alarming rate. Apiibolga Akasiede, who runs a slaughterhouse in a town about 50 miles northeast of Walewale, said his workers did not skin the animals until the Chinese demand emerged.

Source: GhanaWeb January 12, 2020 14:01 UTC