The lucrative trade in donkey hides on the back of a growing Chinese demand for donkey skin is posing a threat to the animal population in Egypt. The donkey population fell from 3.2 million in 2010 to around 1.6 million at present, an animal rights activist told Al-Monitor. Within 20 years, donkeys could become extinct in Egypt due to the hide trade.
Although the Egyptian authorities set in 2012 an export quota of 8,000 hides annually, a higher demand from Chinese pharmaceutical companies has created a black market for hides in Egypt over the past eight years.