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Six million donkeys slaughtered for Chinese medicine: charity

Donkey meat packed in a vehicle ready to be ferried to Kiritiri in Embu County.The donkeys are neleiv3d to have been stolen,slaughtered in Ngurubani on Thursday morning.[FILE/Standard]

Almost six million donkeys are slaughtered annually for Chinese medicine, with severe knock-on effects for African villagers who rely on the animals, a UK-based charity said on Thursday.

It is driven by an increase in China's production of ejiao -- a product marketed as a health supplement that uses collagen from donkey skins -- which is a $6.8-billion industry, according to China-based research firm Qianzhan.

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