Kenyan Court Lifts Ban on Donkey Slaughter

NAIROBI - Kenya's population of donkeys is under threat after the High Court lifted a 2020 ban on donkey slaughterhouses, allowing them to resume selling the meat and hides to Asian markets.

The high price for donkey hides for use in Chinese medicine has led to donkey poaching and sparked fears the animals could eventually go extinct.  Kilena Simeon, a Masai farmer living in the border county of Kajiado, drives her herd of donkeys in search of pasture. For years, she says, women like her have relied on the donkeys to ease the burden of labor in their homes and on their farms.  "We get our earnings from our donkeys. We use them to help us in our work. We fetch water with them, we carry luggage, we fetch fodder for our calves, and sometimes we sell them to earn money to educate our children," she said.