Abdul Rasheed is successful a hole these days. Tiger, his donkey and the lone root of income, died successful an mishap past week.
Advertisement
Staring astatine the imaginable of dire poverty, Rasheed is undecided astir buying a caller 1 arsenic donkey prices person soared successful Karachi and different parts of Pakistan.
“A donkey present costs arsenic precocious arsenic Rs 2 lakh successful the market, mode excessively precocious than the Rs 30,000 I paid to bargain Tiger 8 years ago,” Rasheed, a donkey cart proprietor said.
Rasheed and hundreds of different mediocre wage earners similar him, who are babelike connected donkeys arsenic their lone sources of livelihood, present look a pugnacious contention from high-value buyers from China.
The crushed for this abrupt surge successful donkey prices has been a increasing request from China to root these animals from Pakistan. Reason: China's multi-billion-dollar ejiao industry.
Ejiao is simply a gelatin utilized successful accepted Chinese medicine, made by stewing and concentrating donkey skin. It is wide utilized successful clinics for its biologic advantages of being anti-fatigue, immunity-improving properties, for tumour suppression, and for its anti-anaemia effect.
For carnal rights advocates, China's involvement successful sourcing donkeys, peculiarly for their hide, is not new.
“Donkey hides person go a planetary commercialized present due to the fact that successful China their request is higher than the supply. And it volition turn to satiate a increasing request for ejiao,” said Dr Prof Guo Jing Feng, who runs the Pu-Sheng Medical Centre successful Karachi providing alternate and holistic wellness services.
Rasheed said contempt having bully contacts successful Karachi's Lyari, the largest donkey marketplace successful the country, the cheapest steadfast donkey disposable is for Rs 1.55 lakh.
“Where tin I get that benignant of money? And adjacent if I negociate something, I americium not definite whether the carnal volition not dice retired connected maine earlier I person recovered the money,” Rasheed, whose yearly income is little than Rs 4 lakh, said.
Donkeys are an integral portion of galore industries; main among them being ceramic kilns, transport, agriculture, discarded collection, recycling and adjacent laundry.
Poor wage workers usage their donkeys oregon donkey carts regular to load structural robust and different dense worldly and transport them crossed respective miles each time successful each kinds of terrain.
A travel of an hr oregon much earns Samad, different wage worker, a regular income betwixt Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000, astir fractional of which is spent connected the donkey's upkeep.
It is the bare minimum, but it is besides what keeps the household going for this nonmigratory of Karachi.
Pakistan is lone down Ethiopia and Sudan successful being location to the largest fig of donkeys.
The colonisation of moving donkeys successful Pakistan is estimated to beryllium 5.9 million.
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the fig of donkeys successful the state has accrued by 1.09 lakh implicit the past year.
Not lone successful Pakistan but globally reports amusement that astir 500 cardinal mediocre and marginalised radical are babelike connected moving equids (horses, donkeys and mules) globally.
In April 2025, Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain held meetings with a Chinese delegation who expressed involvement successful establishing donkey farms successful Pakistan.
China's request for donkey hides is attributed to ejiao arsenic 1 of the apical 3 tonics utilized successful accepted Chinese medicine.
According to a paper report, successful the past 5 years, the accumulation of ejiao products has shown a 160 per cent growth, which efficaciously means millions of donkey skins are required to support up with the demand.
A spokesperson for the Ministry for National Food Security and Research said that the determination to found donkey farms successful Pakistan volition beryllium beneficial to the country's system arsenic it volition trust connected section labour astatine each stage, including feeding, caretaking, and the absorption systems successful place.
Dr Asal Khan, Director General astatine the Livestock and Dairy Development Department successful Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said immoderate backstage Chinese companies person expressed involvement successful carnal trading with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government.
“These proposals were from backstage companies and did not mature. Their main intent is to bargain donkeys from present and transport them to China for their hides and we are not allowing that to happen,” helium said.
The fell of a donkey is not influenced by the wide information of the carnal and, according to Zohaib Shah, who sells donkeys successful the Lyari market, immoderate Chinese parties are consenting to bargain adjacent weak, unhealthy donkeys astatine debased costs.
“In 1 instance, a Chinese radical bought 14 donkeys who were tiny and not steadfast astatine Rs 40,000 per animal,” helium recalled.
For some, the question of sending Pakistani donkeys' hides to China besides poses ethical problems.
Saleem Reza, who is simply a elder authoritative of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, pointed retired the biggest one.
“The authorities has to guarantee adjacent if donkeys are successful request by China, they indispensable beryllium sent determination without being slaughtered successful Pakistan,” helium said.
“Donkey nutrient is haram for america and determination has to beryllium a process to guarantee it is not utilized commercially, unethically and illegally. There is simply a request to found designated factories for the slaughtering and processing of hides and nutrient to guarantee it does not circulate successful Pakistani markets,” Reza added.
English (US) ·