China's demand for medicine fuels African donkey slaughter

In South Africa villagers often rely on donkey-drawn carts to collect recycling material, firewood and sand for sale.-AFP

Mogosani (South Africa) (AFP) - Under a cloudless sky in South Africa's northwestern farming region, donkeys still amble along muddy paths, pausing to nibble on grass, oblivious to the threat from a demand for Chinese medicine.

The gelatin found in the animals' skin has made them a target, leading to a growing wave of donkey slaughtering in several African countries, as gangs seek to fuel a lucrative, and in South Africa illegal, trade.