Twice a month, Julius Yebei, 45, embarks on a three-day journey by foot with a herd of donkeys from a livestock market in Bomet County to Goldox, a donkey slaughterhouse located in the semi-arid Kenyan county of Baringo.
The $6 million Chinese-owned donkey export slaughterhouse is one of three to open in Kenya in the last 18 months. Since the opening of the abattoirs, which process hundreds of donkeys a day, the price of an adult donkey in the country has soared to between $90 and $130 from $40 in less than two years.
Yebei’s twice-monthly trek, herding fifteen donkeys at a time, is a ritual he’s become accustomed to since the abattoir opened last year. It’s also become his primary source of income. Full Story
