They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?

Niger and Burkina Faso take action as thriving market for animal skin threatens local populations and leads to price increases, the Daily Maverick reports Humans owe a lot to the humble donkey. Domesticated for more than five millennia, they have been used for everything from farming to warfare. But as the world has industrialised, only the very poorest communities still rely on donkeys for their day-to-day needs and nowhere is this more apparent than in China: after two decades of economic growth, the country’s donkey population has dropped by almost half. [Read more].

• Simon Allison, China’s demand for African donkeys prompts export bans, The Guardian, September 13, 2016

A farmer and his donkey collecting firewood in 大石门村 (Dàshímén village), about 50 miles northeast of 北京 (Běijīng), China. Photo: David Gray/Reuters.