Botswana bans export of donkey products

Botswana's government has moved to crack down on the multi-billion dollar trade in donkey skins following a spate of killings of the animals across the country fuelled by soaring demand from China.

Export licences for donkeys and their products have been suspended indefinitely, the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security said in a statement late on Wednesday.

Many thousands of donkeys have been slaughtered in Botswana and in other developing countries in recent years and their skins sold to China for use in traditional medicine.