Donkeys play a crucial role in supporting the livelihoods of millions of people around the world. They transport water, food, and firewood and provide access to markets, helping to relieve the labor burden on households, women and children in particular. However, despite their contributions to society, donkeys are typically excluded from livestock development policies and underserved by animal health systems, leading to widespread welfare problems.

Common welfare issues for donkeys include poor body condition, hoof deformities, lameness, external parasites, and wounds. Environmental stressors such as extreme heat, long walking distances, and rugged terrain can exacerbate these concerns. At the same time, carers impact donkey welfare through their attitudes and beliefs and the way they look after and handle their animals. Yet, there’s insufficient evidence linking environmental stressors and human behavior to donkey welfare outcomes.

Given this gap, this study aimed to use animal-based, human, and environmental data to assess donkey welfare and highlight opportunities for improvement.

The study was conducted between November 2024 and February 2025. The research took place across seven Kenyan counties: Bungoma, Kiambu, Kitui, Nairobi, Nakuru, Narok, and Turkana. These counties were selected because they represent four major donkey production systems:

• Urban system: These areas are characterized by dense human populations and paved environments. Donkeys are primarily used to transport goods and water.
• High-potential system: These include agriculturally productive areas, where donkeys support mixed farming and short-distance transport across hilly, soft-soil terrain.
• Semi-arid system: These areas feature seasonal rainfall, and donkeys cover longer distances to access water and markets.
• Arid system: Donkeys in these areas travel extensively in search of grazing land and water, and are subject to harsh climatic conditions.

A total of 392 donkeys and their carers were included in the study. The authors used the Standardized Equine-Based Welfare Assessment Tool (SEBWAT) to evaluate the donkeys across eight core welfare indicators, including body condition score, lesions, hoof shape and overgrowth, lameness and gait abnormality, spinal sensitivity to touch, external parasite infestation, mutilations like ear-notching and nose-slitting, and behavioral responses to humans such as avoidance.

Questionnaires were administered to donkey carers immediately after the welfare assessments. ​These collected data on:

• Their age, gender, and other demographics
• The type and intensity of work their donkey performs, including working hours and rest periods
• Their donkey care and handling practices, including equipment use and veterinary care
• The environmental stressors their donkey faces, such as the terrain and availability of water and forage
• Their attitudes and beliefs about donkeys
• Their thoughts on opportunities for welfare improvement, such as training or veterinary access

Welfare Issues

Of the 392 donkeys assessed, 80% were classified as being in poor welfare condition. The table below highlights some of the county-level differences in prevalence, alongside the national average.

Overall, inadequate housing, limited veterinary access, rough terrain, and insufficient forage were found to be significant predictors of poor welfare.

Work Type And Intensity

Across counties, pack transport was the most common work type (69%), followed by cart-pulling (31%). ​Heavier loads and longer working hours were more common in semi-arid and urban counties. ​Cart-pulling was associated with higher welfare risks, likely due to heavy loads, poor harnessing, and prolonged work hours.

Donkey Management Practices

There was significant variation in access to water, forage availability, housing conditions, grazing frequency, and veterinary access across counties. For example, veterinary access was especially low in Kiambu, while Bungoma and Nakuru faced challenges with water access. Results also showed that older carers were more likely to manage their donkeys in better welfare conditions.

Traditional Practices

Harmful practices such as mutilations, hobbling, and firing were prevalent, with differences across counties. For instance, firing was carried out in all counties, while tail amputations were only reported in Kiambu and Turkana. Mutilations in particular were associated with carer attitudes: those who placed low economic value on their donkeys were more likely to use them.

Behavioral Assessments

Behavioral assessments revealed clear variation across counties, with donkeys in some areas like Kitui, Narok, and Turkana exhibiting higher levels of avoidance, fear, and resistance during handling — patterns the authors link to reduced trust and comfort in human-animal interactions.

Regional Disparities

Overall, arid and semi-arid counties like Turkana and Kitui exhibited the most severe welfare challenges, including high rates of poor body condition and harmful practices. The authors point to cultural norms and shortages of essential resources such as forage, water, housing, and veterinary care in these areas as potential contributors. ​Urban and high-potential counties like Nairobi, Nakuru, and Kiambu showed relatively better welfare outcomes — like fewer lesions and more positive behavioral responses — which the authors attribute to factors like improved housing and veterinary access.

Opportunities For Improvement

Carers identified community education (64.5%), improved veterinary services (63.5%), humane handling practices (37%), better nutrition (37%), and regular health check-ups (33%) as key areas for intervention. Strengthening laws and regulations (24%) and improving housing conditions (20%) were seen as less important.

This study highlights how poor donkey welfare isn’t simply the result of neglect, but rather the interplay of complex human and environmental factors. The authors emphasize the need for more widespread community engagement focused on donkey husbandry, as well as increased access to veterinary services and other resources, all supported by stronger policies and local governance.

For animal advocates, the findings offer a strong evidence base for context-sensitive programming. The data show that one-size-fits-all approaches are unlikely to work: the welfare problems facing donkeys in Turkana’s drought-prone, pastoralist system are structurally different from those in Nairobi’s urban cart-pulling economy. Improving the welfare of Kenya’s working donkeys will therefore require close attention to the regional differences this study reveals.