Inside Botswana’s
Licences to kill the animals may have been suspended, but the trade to China goes on
When Chinese businessperson Daniel Wong arrived in the Kweneng district of Botswana in November 2015, he excited local councillors and thousands of poor farmers by detailing how they could make millions out of exporting donkey meat and hides to China.
Wong’s proposal to partner the local council in setting up a donkey abattoir was welcomed as a highvalue substitute for the loss of the beef industry, which was frozen in 2013 because of recurrent outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in Botswana.
With government encouragement, the Kweneng district council approved the opening of Botswana’s first pilot donkey abattoir at Lentsweletau, one of the largest settlements in Kweneng. Because of its rudimentary nature, the local authority referred to the little abattoir as a “slaughter slab”.
Councillors Gaopalelwe Ronald and Saoqho Kotongwa said the abattoir would be a money-spinner and would help farmers to cull the excessive donkey population.
By January 2016, Wong was operating, exporting the hides and processing the meat locally to make pet food. Wong said there were “endless” donkey export opportunities for Botswana because China’s monthly requirement of 100000 slaughtered donkeys was not being met.
His donkey abattoir in Lentsweletau, which is still running, gave rise to the idea that donkeys could be traded for fast cash, leading to reports of theft and illegal slaughter in Molepolole, Ghanzi and the Ngamiland, which includes the Okavango Delta.
Donkeys for ejiao