For optimal performance, animal experts are calling on donkey owners to consider a three-month or longer ‘maternity leave’ for their animals. 

According to Dr Vincent Oloo, a senior animal health officer from Brooke East Africa, an overworked donkey does not reproduce. 

“We are advocating for donkey maternity leave for the entire lactation period, which is around 90 days. This will help the donkey to recover and feed her foal without interference,” says Dr Oloo. 

During this period, the donkey’s diet should consist of 70 per cent grass and 30 per cent concentrates like bran and mineral salts. Apart from the animal bonding leave, the experts are urging farmers to feed them on a balanced diet. 

While some of these experts suggest that male donkeys should also receive their part of the ‘parental leave’ to bond with the offspring, some residents of Moyale were accused of feeding donkeys on bhang to increase their performance. 

Moyale Donkey Owners’ Welfare Group Chairperson Nurr Mahat last year, during a vaccination exercise, said some donkey owners were infusing bhang with food for the animals to work even harder and for longer hours. 

“They mix the bhang with food and the donkey overworks without knowing it has consumed marijuana. We condemn this,” the welfare leader said.  

Known as the beast of burden, the donkey in Kenya and across the globe is also facing an existential threat due to illegal trade in their skin. Oloo says donkey welfare should be the responsibility of all Kenyans stating that they are facing extinction. 

Donkey meat 

The animal health officer points out that the donkey population in Kenya has declined significantly, from around 1.8 million in 2009 to less than 1 million in the 2019 Census. 

In 2016, Kenya gave the green light to mass donkey slaughter, welcoming four slaughterhouses across Nakuru, Baringo, Machakos and Turkana counties.  

In February 2020 however, the doors were shut on these four abattoirs.  Then Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, Peter Munya, pulled the plug after donkey owners voiced their complaints about rampant donkey thefts. 

The closures were also driven by the dwindling donkey population, with the abattoirs responsible for decimating 15.4 per cent of the donkey species in Kenya in a span of three years. 

According to a 2019 report by the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro) titled ‘The Status of Donkey Slaughter for Skin Trade and Its Implications on the Kenyan Economy’, donkeys play a crucial role in the economy. 

The report estimated that each working donkey generates an average income of Sh11,393 per month, which could be lost as some owners continue losing donkeys to the bush slaughter. 

“Donkeys are slow in reproducing normally giving birth to one foal in three years. When it is overworked, there are high chances it will not reproduce,” says Oloo, adding that when underfed, the animal can also decide not to reproduce. 

He reveals that the donkey’s gestation period is 11 to 14 months. With slow reproduction, the veterinarian warns their population might continue to go down. 

“Unlike cows, we cannot carry out Artificial Insemination for donkeys because their semen preservation requires a -196 degrees. With these extreme low temperatures, the semen cannot be viable,” he says. 

Delayed delivery 

Another interesting characteristic for the donkeys is that they can delay giving birth if the environment is not conducive. 

“Donkey gestation period is 11 to 14 months and therefore it can delay giving birth to uptown 2 months if it feels it is not safe, the weather is not right among other factors,” Oloo says. 

The beast of burden is also facing abandonment during its old age. 

Oloo indicates that many donkeys, when they are old, sick and no longer have energy to work, are left to wander the streets. 

“After working their entire life, most donkeys end up being scavengers on dumpsite with no one to take care of them,” he says. 

Due to this inhumane treatment, there are safe houses by Donkey Sanctuary Kenya through their offices in Lamu and Nairobi, providing sanctuary to donkeys that have been mistreated or badly injured until such a time that they can be returned to their owner(s) or taken to new homes.  

Interestingly, for a community in Meru County in Buuri constituency, there are only male donkeys. 

Researchers have observed that, in most cases women prefer to work with female donkeys due to the belief that they’re well-mannered and not as stubborn as their male counterparts. 

Men who use donkeys, prefer working with male ones due to the belief that they’re hardworking and reliable to work longer hours, unlike their female counterparts. 

Curtailing donkeys mating rights, corporal punishment, denying them medical attention, overlooking sheltering them, overloading as well as overworking them are considered working animal mistreatment, which animal supporters feel should be offence under the prevention of cruelty to animal protection laws. 

Unfortunately, donkeys continue to be overworked.