Investigation: Crime Thrives in Botswana’s Donkey Skin Trade
Botswana’s lucrative but controversial donkey shell trade is back in the spotlight after an investigation
Botswana’s lucrative but controversial donkey shell trade is back in the spotlight after an investigation published by OCCRP confirmed that one of the country’s four licensed donkey slaughterhouses is still engaged in cross-border smuggling and environmental crime.
it is made into “ejiao” gelatin, one of the most valuable substances in traditional Chinese medicine used in anti-aging products such as face creams.
Environmental business investigating Oxpeckers has claimed this despite the closure in June for a litany of crimes Chinese slaughterhouse Bo Chang in Francistown, eastern Botswana, barely tries to comply with the law in 2017 and continues its illegal practices.
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This includes exceeding daily slaughter quotas and dumping untreated wastewater into the n near the river. Employ illegal migrants and recover stolen donkeys from the cross – border smugglers in Zimbabwe.
The Bo Chang Group slaughterhouse became infamous four years ago after 500 donkeys were killed in overcrowded holding pens for days without food or water.
The public outcry that followed prompted the government to withdraw all licenses for the slaughter and export of donkeys and donkey products until adequate oversight was established.
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Less than a year later, in April 2018, Botswana withdrew and reopened its donkey skin trade. The Bo Chang Group quickly got their license back, and by March 2020, an estimated 50 donkeys were slaughtered a week.
Now that donkey populations in east and southern Africa are falling and locals in Botswana are increasingly unwilling to move on to Bo Chang to sell, the slaughterhouse is more dependent than ever on smugglers to secure its unsustainable supply. According to Botswanian animal rights activist Mpho Kganyago.
“The donkey-stealing cross-border syndicates I’ve now turned to smuggling animals from Zimbabwe to supply the Bo Chang Group’s slaughterhouse,” she told Oxpeckers.
Partly as a result of increased demand for “ejiao”, which currently requires about 4.8 million donkey skins per year, China’s donkey population declined by 77 % between 1990 and 2018, from 11.1 million donkeys to 2.5 million.
Prices have seen a corresponding increase of more than 1000 percent: a donkey hide that wholesaled for about $ 32 in China in 2000 was selling for $ 435 in 2017, with Bloomberg reporting the sale of some skins for more than $ 1,100 that year. furs from abroad, particularly from Africa, where donkeys are still crucial for transport and agriculture.
Before banning trade in 2020, Kenya was the regional epicenter, but it still faces the same problem as its neighbors: allowing trade reduces dramatically local donkey populations and facilitates theft, while the ban feeds smugglers and organized crime groups. smuggling along with its donkey smuggling businesses that traffic ivory, pangolin scales, cigarette smuggling and marijuana in all jurisdictions.