Editing Donkey (section)

=== Conservation status ===
About 41 million donkeys were reported worldwide in 2006.<ref name=mon /> China had the most with 11 million, followed by Pakistan, [[Ethiopia]] and Mexico. As of 2017, however, the Chinese population was reported to have dropped to 3 million, with African populations under pressure as well, due to increasing trade and demand for donkey products in China.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-41524710|title=Donkeys face 'biggest ever crisis'|last=Leithead|first=Alastair|date=2017-10-07|work=BBC News|access-date=2017-10-07|language=en-GB|archive-date=2020-02-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200208191020/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-41524710|url-status=live}}</ref> Some researchers believe the actual number may be somewhat higher since many donkeys go uncounted.<ref name=starkey/> The number of breeds and percentage of world population for each of the FAO's world regions was in 2006:<ref name=mon />

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto;"
|-
! Region !! No. of breeds !! % of world pop.
|-
| Africa   || style="text-align:right;"|26 || style="text-align:right;"|26.9
|-
| Asia and Pacific || style="text-align:right;"|32 || style="text-align:right;"|37.6
|-
| Europe and the Caucasus || style="text-align:right;"|51 || style="text-align:right;"|3.7
|-
| Latin America and the Caribbean  || style="text-align:right;"|24 || style="text-align:right;"|19.9
|-
| Near and Middle East || style="text-align:right;"|47 || style="text-align:right;"|11.8
|-
| United States and Canada  || style="text-align:right;"|5 || style="text-align:right;"|0.1
|-
| World || style="text-align:right;"|185 || style="text-align:right;"|41 million head
|}
[[File:Baudet.jpg|thumb|The [[Baudet du Poitou]] is among the largest breeds of donkey]]
[[File:Niger, Boubon (11), weekly cattle market, donkeys.jpg|thumb|At a livestock market in [[Niger]]]]

In 1997, the number of donkeys in the world was reported to be continuing to grow, as it had steadily done throughout most of history; factors cited as contributing to this were increasing human population, progress in economic development and social stability in some poorer nations, conversion of forests to farm and range land, rising prices of motor vehicles and fuel, and the popularity of donkeys as pets.<ref name=starkey/><ref name=blench2000/>
Since then, the world population of donkeys is reported to be rapidly shrinking, falling from 43.7 million to 43.5 million between 1995 and 2000, and to only 41 million in 2006.<ref name=mon /> The fall in population is pronounced in developed countries; in Europe, the total number of donkeys fell from 3 million in 1944 to just over 1 million in 1994.<ref name=svend5/>

The Domestic Animal Diversity Information System ([[DAD-IS]]) of the [[FAO]] listed 189 breeds of ass in June 2011.<ref name=dad/> In 2000 the number of [[List of donkey breeds|breeds of donkey]] recorded worldwide was 97, and in 1995 it was 77. The rapid increase is attributed to attention paid to identification and recognition of donkey breeds by the FAO's Animal Genetic Resources project.<ref name=mon/> The rate of recognition of new breeds has been particularly high in some developed countries. In France only one breed, the Baudet du Poitou, was recognised until the early 1990s; by 2005, a further six donkey breeds had official recognition.<ref name=inra/>

In developed countries, the welfare of donkeys both at home and abroad has become a concern, and a number of sanctuaries for retired and rescued donkeys have been set up. The largest is [[The Donkey Sanctuary]] near [[Sidmouth]], England, which also supports donkey welfare projects in Egypt, Ethiopia, India, [[Kenya]], and Mexico.<ref name=ds2006/>

In 2017, a drop in the number of Chinese donkeys, combined with the fact that they are slow to reproduce, meant that Chinese suppliers began to look to Africa. As a result of the increase in demand, and the price that could be charged, [[Kenya]] opened three donkey abattoirs. Concerns for donkeys' well-being have resulted in a number of African countries (including [[Uganda]], [[Tanzania]], [[Botswana]], [[Niger]], [[Burkina Faso]], [[Mali]], and [[Senegal]]) banning China from buying their donkey products.<ref name=":0" />

In 2019, The Donkey Sanctuary warned that the global donkey population could be reduced by half over the next half decade as the demand for [[Donkey-hide gelatin|ejiao]] increases in China.<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/21/worlds-donkeys-being-decimated-by-demand-for-chinese-medicine|title = World's donkeys being 'decimated' by demand for Chinese medicine|newspaper = The Guardian|date = November 20, 2019|last = Murray|first = Jessica|access-date = November 28, 2019|archive-date = November 27, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191127184023/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/21/worlds-donkeys-being-decimated-by-demand-for-chinese-medicine|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Lesté-Lasserre|first=Christa|date=December 12, 2019|title=Chinese trade in hides has led to global donkey massacre|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/chinese-trade-hides-has-led-global-donkey-massacre|work=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|access-date=January 24, 2020|archive-date=January 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200112043455/https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/12/chinese-trade-hides-has-led-global-donkey-massacre|url-status=live}}</ref>