Donkey meat in restaurants? Egypt faces public health fears as numbers of the beast of burden drop

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Once a familiar beast of burden across Egypt’s fields and alleyways, the humble donkey is now disappearing — a decline driven by modernization, rising costs, and, alarmingly, reports of illegal slaughter and black market sales.

Egypt’s donkey population has dropped dramatically from 3 million in the 1990s to fewer than 1 million today, raising alarm among animal welfare advocates and public health officials alike.

The main culprit? A booming black market for donkey hides — and a far murkier trade in donkey meat, some of which is reportedly ending up in local restaurants.

Hussein Abu Saddam, head of Egypt’s Farmers’ Union, sounded the alarm in a televised interview on Al Nahar channel. He blamed high maintenance costs, modern farming machines replacing donkeys, and, more disturbingly, illegal slaughterhouses that funnel donkey meat into the food supply under the radar.

“Some of these people fail to follow health and safety protocols,” Abu Saddam warned. “The law says donkey carcasses must be buried or sent to zoos — not into people’s meals. This is totally unacceptable.”

Though donkey meat is forbidden in Egypt, it’s cheap and, when disguised, hard to distinguish — making it tempting for unscrupulous vendors in low-cost eateries. Online, Egyptians have voiced growing fears about what's really being served on their plates. Allegations of restaurants using donkey meat have surfaced before, but enforcement has remained patchy.

The global demand for donkey hides, especially from industries producing traditional Chinese medicine and luxury beauty products, has only worsened the crisis. A single hide can fetch up to $300 on the international market, creating a powerful incentive for poachers and middlemen.

In Egypt’s countryside, where donkeys once carried water, firewood, and crops, the sight of a ḥimār (Arabic for donkey) pulling a cart is increasingly rare. “Farmers are turning to cattle and machines. Donkeys are no longer seen as valuable — unless they’re dead,” said Abu Saddam.

He urged stricter enforcement of animal welfare laws and tighter controls on meat distribution to protect both public health and what’s left of the country’s dwindling donkey population.

As the numbers continue to fall, Egypt may soon lose not just an animal, but a symbol of rural life — sacrificed to greed and negligence.

-- Huda Ata is an independent writer based in the UAE