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Unsustainable global wildlife trade impacts biodiversity and threatens national and global security, but many aspects of this trade remain opaque. Our study is a novel investigation of the alleged links between the trade in wildlife products and in donkey skins. The global donkey skin trade is a newly prevalent and lucrative business, largely driven by Chinese demand for E-Jiao, a traditional medicine derived from donkey skins. Records of donkey skins being seized alongside other wildlife products lead us to hypothesize that there is a link between these two trades. We identified all donkey skin dealers on seven business-to-business e-commerce websites and obtained 14,949 data points. These were used in a network analysis to demonstrate the structure of the network and reveal the connection between the products, including wild animal and plant products offered alongside donkey skins. We identified at least 13 groups of CITES-listed species in the densely connected donkey skin product network, demonstrated an association between the online trade in wildlife products and donkey skins, and discuss the implications of this overlap—including the potential to shed light on potential novel trade pathways in legal and illegal domestic animal and wildlife trade.

Animal sanctuaries are important organisations that promote animal welfare and health as well as social awareness. Following the appearance of several donkeys with severe and distinctive skin lesions in a sanctuary from western Spain in 2021, a multicomponent study was performed to rule out the possible causes. The lesions were mainly concentrated on the extremities and, to a lesser extent, on the face and/or chest. The use of cotton leggings on their extremities as an external barrier to prevent them from bites and treatments with antiparasitic, antiseptic washes and dermatitis lotion showed to be effective measures to improve the donkey lesions. Skin scraping was negative for any relevant causative agents. Histopathological examination of the lesions showed an inflammatory infiltrate at the superficial dermal level, compatible with diffuse chronic dermatitis. A field entomological study was conducted from May to October 2021 to ascertain if any Diptera was responsible for these lesions. Considerable numbers of the stable fly Stomoxys calcitrans were recorded in both sticky traps and decomposing straw bedding. Several species of haematophagous Diptera were also recorded in lower numbers in other traps placed on the farm facilities. According to the entomological data, the location of the bites and clinical signs, it was concluded that S. calcitrans was the main cause of the skin lesions in the donkeys. To our best knowledge, this is the first clinical case of donkeys affected by the stable fly in Spain. For differential diagnosis, a brief discussion of the evidence caused by other biting Diptera groups is provided.

The suckling behavior of donkey foals has rarely been explored, with most orphans being reared on protocols based on the assumption that their behavior and physiology do not differ from horses. An orphaned donkey foal at The Donkey Sanctuary was reared on an artificial suckling system, enabling the analysis of suckling behavior in an orphaned donkey. Milk formula was accessible 24-hours per day via the artificial system and suckling behavior was monitored, revealing that the foal suckled at a variable rate, with suckling durations, frequency and quantities differing from what was outlined in the standard bottle-feeding protocol for equines.

Donkeys provide important resources and benefits for millions of people worldwide. However, global donkey populations are under increasing pressure from the growing demand for a traditional Chinese medicine, e’jiao, made from donkey-skin. The objective of this reflexive, qualitative thematic analysis was to examine the role of donkeys with 262 participants in northern Ghana and how donkeys contribute to livelihood outcomes, especially their use by women and children. Data were collected from four surveys, 12 in-depth interviews and 84 daily time budgets with the same participants, plus 16 focus groups, during one wet and one dry season across 2018-19. Uniquely, boys and girls between the ages of 10–16-years old were interviewed. Donkeys are highly valued by their owners as they play a valuable role in providing a pathway out of ultra-poverty. Donkeys’ contributions to livelihoods are significant and more complex than previously understood and documented in the literature. Donkey ownership confers up to six different income benefits in comparison to non-donkey owners. Female owners of donkeys reported that donkeys can contribute between 30–60% of their income. Children of both sexes can play an important role in the efficient deployment of one of these income generating activities.

From 2010 to 2017, as part of a wider animal welfare program, The Donkey Sanctuary piloted an integrated, community-based model for the control and prevention of epizootic lymphangitis (EZL) in cart mules in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Stakeholders included muleteers, service providers, and transport and animal health regulatory authorities. Interventions included muleteer education, wound prevention, harness improvement, animal health professional training, treatment of early EZL cases, euthanasia for advanced cases, and review of transport services and traffic guidelines. The project followed a participatory project management cycle and used participatory learning and action tools to facilitate stakeholder engagement and ownership. Participatory and classical epidemiology tools were employed to raise and align stakeholder understanding about EZL for effective control and prevention and to evaluate the progress impact of the model through annual prevalence surveys. During the intervention, the annual prevalence of EZL reduced from 23.9% (102/430) (95%CI: 19.8%−27.0%) in 2010 to 5.9% (58/981) (95% CI: 4.4%−7.4%) in 2017, and wound prevalence from 44.3% in 2011 to 22.2% in 2017; trends in the reduction of the prevalence maintained in the face of a mule population that increased from 430 in 2010 to ~1,500 in 2017. While non-governmental organization (NGO)-led interventions can facilitate change by trialing new approaches and accessing new skills and resources, sustainable change requires community ownership and strengthening of service provision systems. To this effect, the project raised muleteer competence in mule husbandry and EZL prevention strategies; strengthened veterinary competence; facilitated more mule-friendly traffic, transport, and waste disposal guidelines and practices; supported mule-community bylaws to control EZL; and established a supportive network between stakeholders including trusting relationships between muleteers and veterinary services. To advance the intervention model in other endemic areas, we recommend elucidation of local epidemiological factors with other stakeholders prior to the intervention, early engagement with veterinary and transport service regulatory authorities, early development of bylaws, exploration of compensation or insurance mechanisms to support euthanasia of advanced cases, and additional social, economic, and epidemiological investigations. In line with the OIE Working Equid Welfare Standards, we suggest that integrated community-based interventions are useful approaches to the control and prevention of infectious diseases.

The presence of free-roaming donkeys on Brazilian Northeastern roads has significant welfare and safety implications for both humans and animals. Working donkeys have played an important historical role in regional development and are considered a cultural symbol of the Brazilian Northeast, as manifested in popular songs, tales, and other arts. Their replacement with motorized vehicles and machines has, however, led to their underuse and their proliferation as free-roaming animals. They are, therefore, reputed for their involvement in road accidents. Aside from this narrative, there is no documentation of social representations of free-roaming donkeys in Brazil. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to identify, document, and analyze social representations of free-roaming donkeys through an exploratory study based on 99 interviews conducted in Brazil. These representations were grouped and organized in a four-quadrant matrix that highlights human and nonhuman agencies. Our results show that donkey abandonment is not always perceived as an intentionally negative human attitude; donkey agency and structural and political-cultural causes are also related.

Working equids play an essential role in supporting livelihoods, providing resilience and income security to people around the world, yet their welfare is often poor. Consequently, animal welfare focussed NGOs employ a range of initiatives aimed at improving standards of working equid welfare. However, there is debate surrounding the efficacy of welfare initiatives utilised and long term monitoring and evaluation of initiatives is rarely undertaken. This study compares equid welfare and the social transmission of welfare information across Mexican communities that had previously received differing intervention histories (veterinary treatment plus educational initiatives, veterinary treatment only and control communities) in order to assess their efficacy. Indicators of equid welfare were assessed using the Equid Assessment Research and Scoping tool and included body condition score, skin alterations, lameness, general health status and reaction to observer approach. Owners were interviewed about their involvement in previous welfare initiatives, beliefs regarding equid emotions and pain, and the social transmission of welfare knowledge, including whether they ask advice about their equid or discuss its health with others and whether there is a specific individual that they consider to be ‘good with equids’ in their community. In total 266 owners were interviewed from 25 communities across three states. Better welfare (specifically body condition and skin alteration scores) was seen in communities where a history of combined free veterinary treatment and educational initiatives had taken place compared to those that had only received veterinary treatment or control communities. The social transfer of welfare knowledge was also higher in these communities, suggesting that the discussion and transfer of equid welfare advice within communities can act as a mechanism to disseminate good welfare practices more widely. Our results suggest that using a combined approach may enhance the success of welfare initiatives, a finding that may impact future NGO programming.

Assessment of chronic pain is very important for monitoring and improving welfare and quality of life in donkeys. Freedom from disease and pain is one of the ‘five freedoms’ underlying animal welfare. The aim of the current study was to develop a pain scale for assessment of chronic pain in donkeys (Donkey Chronic Pain Scale; DCPS), including behavioural and facial expression-related parameters. The scale was applied to 77 donkeys (38 donkeys diagnosed with chronic health problems by means of clinical examination and additional diagnostic procedures and 39 healthy control animals). Animals were assessed twice daily for three consecutive days by two observers that were not masked to the condition of the animals but were unaware of the analgesic treatment regimens. Both composite, facial expression-based and combined DCPS pain scales showed excellent inter-observer reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.98, 0.96 and 0.98 respectively; P < 0.001). Individual composite and facial expression-based pain scores and the resulting combined DCPS showed significant differences between donkeys with chronic conditions and control donkeys at all time points (P < 0.001). A DCPS cut-off of 6 showed good sensitivity and specificity (92% and 82.5% respectively) for presence of a chronic painful condition. Facial expression-related parameters separately showed low sensitivity. In conclusion, it is possible to use a composite pain scale for assessment of chronic pain in donkeys, based on behavioural and facial expression-based parameters. Further studies are needed to validate this pain scale before it can be used in veterinary practice.

Background: Compared to horses and ponies, donkeys have increased degradation of dietary fiber. The longer total mean retention time of feed in the donkey gut has been proposed to be the basis of this, because of the increased time available for feed to be acted upon by enzymes and the gut microbiota. However, differences in terms of microbial concentrations and/or community composition in the hindgut may also underpin the increased degradation of fiber in donkeys. Therefore, a study was conducted to assess if differences existed between the fecal microbiota of pony, donkey and hybrids derived from them (i.e. pony × donkey) when fed the same forage diet. 

Results: Fecal community composition of prokaryotes and anaerobic fungi significantly differed between equine types. The relative abundance of two bacterial genera was significantly higher in donkey compared to both pony and pony x donkey: Lachnoclostridium 10 and ‘probable genus 10’ from the Lachnospiraceae family. The relative abundance of Piromyces was significantly lower in donkey compared to pony × donkey, with pony not significantly differing from either of the other equine types. In contrast, the uncultivated genus SK3 was only found in donkey (4 of the 8 animals). The number of anaerobic fungal OTUs was also significantly higher in donkey than in the other two equine types, with no significant differences found between pony and pony × donkey. Equine types did not significantly differ with respect to prokaryotic alpha diversity, fecal dry matter content or fecal concentrations of bacteria, archaea and anaerobic fungi.

Conclusions: Donkey fecal microbiota differed from that of both pony and pony × donkey. These differences related to a higher relative abundance and diversity of taxa with known, or speculated, roles in plant material degradation. These findings are consistent with the previously reported increased fiber degradation in donkeys compared to ponies, and suggest that the hindgut microbiota plays a role. This offers novel opportunities for pony and pony × donkey to extract more energy from dietary fiber via microbial mediated strategies. This could potentially decrease the need for energy dense feeds which are a risk factor for gut-mediated disease.

Equids play a fundamental role in supporting livelihoods in many parts of the world. Being able to access the animal’s welfare, especially while performing tasks that involve high levels of physical effort such as those found in agroforestry activities, is of utmost importance. The Donkey Sanctuary, a UK-based international charitable institution, has designed a project that aims to develop a set of tools to evaluate the working conditions of donkeys and mules worldwide. This requires the measurement of several different parameters, including the force exerted by an animal to pull a load during work. This article presents the stages of design, development and implementation of a device capable of carrying out these measurements with minimal human intervention and with negligible impact on the task operating conditions. Data obtained from real field conditions validates the devised measurement method.