CHINESE AND OUR DONKEYS

Sir

The emergence of China as an economic power has undoubtedly benefitted Africa in many ways, with Chinese investments, trade agreements, tourists and financial aid powering into the continent.

However, where there are advantages, there will also be disadvantages and with the rise of China’s buying power, there has also been a rise in poaching incidents in Africa which not only threaten our fauna but flora as well, something which could prove disastrous for the environment and for our tourism industry.

Animals such as rhinos, elephants, chimpanzees and even marine resources are being poached on an industrial scale to feed the growing demand in China and other parts of Africa.
Even though there is a global consensus that poaching will lead to the extinction of many species of animals and is therefore illegal, there seems to be very little effort on the part of China and other Asian countries to put an end to the illegal trade in poached animals and animal parts.

Most, if not all rhino horn and ivory from animals poached in Africa end up in China and other parts of Asia where they are used as status symbols or for traditional medicines. There seems to be very little regard for the welfare of animals in some parts of Asia. Now donkey poaching seems to also be on the rise in Africa because there is apparently a shortage of donkeys in China.

Perhaps what we should begin to consider is the fact that the demand of our wildlife and forests will only grow as the Asian economies become more powerful and maybe we should start thinking about taking advantage of this market by legalising the trade of rhino horn and ivory as a means of protecting our wildlife from certain extinction.

Not only would we then be able to manage the whole process from harvesting to export but we would also be benefitting economically while protecting our rhino and elephant populations from extreme cruelty and death.

The same thing can be done with the donkeys and donkey breeders could then be licensed to breed and slaughter the animals in a humane way and export the skin and meat to China, as is done with other livestock.
This would avoid situations where donkeys are stolen and killed in the cruellest ways to feed the growing demand in China, while we do not benefit in any way.

Swazi citizen

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