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Six million donkeys are killed every year for their skin, most of them in Africa. These skins are then exported worldwide, by ship and air, before being used to make traditional medicines and remedies, according to the latest figures from The Donkey Sanctuary.

International animal welfare charity The Donkey Sanctuary has joined forces with Emirates to raise awareness of the risks of transporting donkey skins in air freight.

The Donkey Sanctuary and Emirates have jointly produced the Aviation Risk and Threat Assessment operational guide to highlight the risks of the donkey skin trade and its association with serious and organized criminal activity.

Considerable evidence exposed the link between the movement of donkey hides with other illegal wildlife trade and organized crime. The unregulated and unsanitary skin trade also poses a serious threat to global biosecurity.

Emirates has already banned the transport of donkey skins. In February this year, African heads of state at the 37th African Union (AU) Summit endorsed a continent-wide moratorium on the slaughter of donkeys for their skin. Within days of the AU’s decision, Emirates extended its zero-tolerance policy on the carriage of banned species, hunting trophies and other related products to donkey skins and parts.

The airline is already a leader in the fight against illegal wildlife trade and has put in place strict protocols including screening, in-transit sampling, in-depth document verification and confirming the authenticity of permits, in addition to providing education and training to its employees . for cargo and passenger operations to identify and report smuggled wildlife.

The joint fact sheet will provide the broader aviation industry with crucial knowledge in the fight against the donkey skin trade. The operational guidelines explain the biosecurity risk of smuggling inadequately processed donkey skins alongside legitimate cargo such as leather or textiles. It also highlights the methods of concealment and convergence of crime, where networks involved in the donkey skin trade can also be linked to organized crime, such as wildlife and drug trafficking.