The Current Situation and Trend of Donkey Industry in Europe

Camillo, Francesco; Rota, Alessandra; Biagini, Lorenzo; Tesi, Matteo; Fanelli, Diana; Panzani, Duccio

doi:10.1016/j.jevs.2017.11.008

Cited by 102 publications

(101 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Knowledge about the reproductive physiology of donkeys and donkey breeding management is incomplete. The majority of the published research has been carried out in Europe [11]. Donkey Animals 2020, 10, 718 5 of 22 farming in China mainly uses Chinese breeds with the Dezhou breed the preferred, but not the only, breed used by donkey farms that supply the hide market [43,45,47].…”

Section: Reproductive Performance Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The main use of donkeys has traditionally been, and still largely is, for traction and transport of goods and people. For this reason, economic development with the mechanization of transport and agriculture has generally had dramatic impacts on donkey populations [11][12][13][14]. In Europe, the donkey population has declined by more than 80 percent since the Second World War.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Europe, the donkey population has declined by more than 80 percent since the Second World War. Countries with large donkey populations in the past, such as Greece and Italy, have seen the most dramatic declines of more than 95 percent [11]. In China, between 1990 and 2018, when the Chinese economy grew at an extraordinary pace, the donkey population decreased by 77 percent from 11.1 million to 2.5 million donkeys [10,15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Potential for New Donkey Farming Systems to Supply the Growing Demand for Hides

Bennett

Pfuderer

2020

Animals

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The demand for donkey hides for ejiao, a Traditional Chinese Medicine, has resulted in rapidly increasing prices for donkey hides and donkeys. This has put pressure on donkey populations globally and has implications for donkey welfare and the livelihoods of those who rely on donkeys as working animals. The aim of the research was to explore the feasibility of setting up new donkey farming systems to supply the rising demand for ejiao using a system dynamics model of donkey production. Results show that the size of the initial female breeding herd, reproductive performance, age of reproduction, percentage of female births and average breeding life of donkeys are key variables affecting the time to build up the donkey population to supply the demand for hides, which will be at least ten to fifteen years. The implications of this are: (i) prices for donkey hides will continue to increase, (ii) companies producing ejiao will use other ingredients, (iii) China will continue to source donkey hides from around the world, and (iv) there will be continued theft and illegal trade of donkeys and concerns for rural households reliant on donkeys for their livelihoods and adverse impacts on donkey welfare.

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Section: Reproductive Performance Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Potential for New Donkey Farming Systems to Supply the Growing Demand for Hides

Bennett

Pfuderer

2020

Animals

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“…For these reasons, rearing donkeys for milk is gaining increasing attention in the Mediterranean area, in particular Italy [4], where milk is sold as a raw product directly at farms. Other forms of marketing at niche level also exist, such as selling online or through pharmacies as pasteurised or, rarely, as UHT-treated or freeze-dried product [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemical-Sensory Traits of Fresh Cheese Made by Enzymatic Coagulation of Donkey Milk

Faccia

Gambacorta

Martemucci

et al. 2019

Foods

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Making cheese from donkey milk is considered unfeasible, due to difficulties in coagulation and curd forming. Two recent studies have reported the protocols for making fresh cheese by using camel chymosin or calf rennet, but the chemical and sensory characteristics of the products were not thoroughly investigated. The present paper aims to give a further contribution to the field, by investigating cheesemaking with microbial rennet and evaluating the chemical composition, total fatty acid, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and sensory profile of the resultant product. Six trials were undertaken at laboratory scale on donkey milk from a Martina Franca ass, by applying the technological scheme as reported for calf rennet, with some modifications. Bulk cow milk was used as a control. Donkey milk coagulated rapidly, but the curd remained soft, and was only suitable for making fresh cheese; differently, cow milk coagulated almost instantaneously under these strong technological conditions, giving rise to a semi-hard curd in very short time.The moisture level of donkey cheese was almost the same as reported in the literature, whereas the yield was higher, probably due to the high protein content of the milk used. The total fatty acid composition of cheese presented some differences with respect to milk, mostly consisting in a higher presence of saturated compounds. A connection with a better retention of the large sized fat globules into the curd was hypothesised and discussed. The VOC analyses, performed by solid-phase micro extraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, allowed the identification of 11 compounds in milk and 18 in cheese.The sensory characteristics of donkey cheese were strongly different with respect to the control, and revealed unique and pleasant flavours.

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“…Donkey population in Europe has diminished in the last century (Camillo et al., ), and Andalusian donkey breed is considered at risk of extinction according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) last update in 2019: breeding population was estimated to be 103 males and 482 females in 2017. Taking into account the importance of environment and biodiversity preservation of domestic species resources, research should be focused in those reproductive procedures aiming to preserve all available individuals registered as pure breeds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is sperm cryopreservation in absence of permeable cryoprotectants suitable for subfertile donkeys?

Díaz-Jiménez

Dorado

Pereira

et al. 2019

Reprod Domestic Animals

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Sperm from fertile donkeys have been successfully frozen in absence of permeable cryoprotectants. The aim of this study was to determine whether this cryopreservation method is suitable for subfertile donkeys in comparison to conventional sperm freezing with glycerol. Ejaculates were collected from four Andalusian Donkeys: three fertile and one subfertile. Semen was frozen with an extender containing glycerol (GLY), or adding instead sucrose 0.25 molar and 1% bovine serum albumin (SUC) as non-permeable cryoprotectants. After thawing, samples were assessed for total (TM, %) and progressive (PM, %) sperm motility by CASA, plasma membrane integrity (PMI, %) by epifluorescence microscopy and DNA integrity (DFI, %) by SCSA. Results (mean ± SD) were compared between extenders in fertile and subfertile donkeys using the Student's t test. No differences between GLY and SUC treatments were found in the fertile group for the sperm parameters assessed. In subfertile donkey ejaculates, GLY resulted in significantly higher values than SUC for TM (25.5 ± 3.1 vs.19.6 ± 1.9) and PM (13.3 ± 5.1 vs. 4.0 ± 1.2), respectively. In conclusion, considering all the sperm parameters assessed, sperm freezing in absence of permeable cryoprotectants may not be still an option for cryopreservation of subfertile donkey sperm. K E Y W O R D S cryoprotectant, donkey, fertility, freezing, sperm | 103 DIAZ-JIMENEZ Et Al. | 105 DIAZ-JIMENEZ Et Al. ACK N OWLED G M ENTS The authors are grateful to 'Centro Rural Malpica' for providing animals and facilities. This study was funded by MINECO grant AGL2013-42726-R. M. Diaz-Jimenez is supported by a FPU fellowship from Spanish MECD ('Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte', Spain). CO N FLI C T O F I NTE R E S T None of the authors have any conflict of interest to declare. AUTH O R CO NTR I B UTI O N S M Hidalgo and M Diaz-Jimenez contributed to all sections. J Dorado and I Ortiz contributed to the study design, preparation and final approval of the manuscript. C Consuegra and B Pereira performed the experiments. All the authors were involved in revision and approval of the final version of the manuscript.

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The Current Situation and Trend of Donkey Industry in Europe

Cited by 102 publications

References 6 publications

The Potential for New Donkey Farming Systems to Supply the Growing Demand for Hides

The Potential for New Donkey Farming Systems to Supply the Growing Demand for Hides

Chemical-Sensory Traits of Fresh Cheese Made by Enzymatic Coagulation of Donkey Milk

Is sperm cryopreservation in absence of permeable cryoprotectants suitable for subfertile donkeys?

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