{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,11]],"date-time":"2026-09-11T12:28:22Z","timestamp":1789129702900,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":154,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"23","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,1]],"date-time":"2025-12-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1764547200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012166","name":"National Key R&D Program of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2023YFD1302004"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023YFD1302004"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012166","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012166","name":"National Key R&D Program of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2022YFD1600103"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022YFD1600103"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012166","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"The Liaocheng Municipal Bureau of Science and Technology, High-talented Foreign Expert Introduction Program","award":["GDWZ202401"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["GDWZ202401"]}]},{"name":"The Key R&D Program of Shandong Province, China","award":["2024LZGC020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2024LZGC020"]}]},{"name":"Livestock and Poultry Breeding Industry Project of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs","award":["19211162"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["19211162"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"The National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["31671287"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["31671287"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Liaocheng University scientific research fund","award":["318052025"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["318052025"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Donkeys (Equus asinus) play a critical role in agricultural, transport, and livelihood systems across Asia, yet they remain among the most neglected domestic species in terms of welfare, management, and research attention. This review synthesizes recent literature on donkey welfare, health, breeding, and conservation across Asia, highlighting regional disparities and emerging challenges. A systematic review of published studies identified welfare determinants including nutrition, workload, shelter, and veterinary access. Welfare conditions are found to be poorest in South Asia, particularly in Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan, where chronic undernutrition, inadequate housing, excessive workloads, and limited veterinary support prevail. Preventive healthcare, such as vaccination and deworming, remains largely absent, reflecting low owner awareness and weak veterinary infrastructure. In contrast, China demonstrates substantial progress through semi-intensive farming systems, structured welfare management, and research-based breeding programs that integrate welfare with productivity enhancement. Recent advancements in molecular genetics have further expanded the scope of donkey conservation and improvement. Studies on key genes, including PRKG2, NR6A1, LTBP2, HOXC8, and DCAF7, have elucidated their roles in vertebral number, skeletal development, and body conformation in Dezhou donkeys, offering new opportunities for genomic-level conservation and marker-assisted selection. Nonetheless, significant health challenges, such as parasitic, bacterial, and viral infections (Theileria equi, Giardia duodenalis, and Equid herpesviruses), continue to threaten productivity and welfare. Reproductive management across most Asian countries remains traditional and uncoordinated, whereas China leads in artificial insemination, genetic resource preservation, and policy-supported breeding initiatives. Ethical concerns surrounding overexploitation and the commercial use of donkeys, particularly in the ejiao (donkey-hide gelatin) industry, are also gaining attention. Overall, this review underscores the urgent need for a \u201cOne Welfare\u201d approach, linking Animal Welfare, human livelihoods, and sustainable industry development. Strengthening veterinary infrastructure, promoting owner education, and integrating genomic tools into breeding programs are essential steps toward improving the welfare, productivity, and long-term conservation of donkeys across Asia.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani15233464","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,3]],"date-time":"2025-12-03T08:44:28Z","timestamp":1764751468000},"page":"3464","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Overview of Donkey Welfare and Husbandry Practices in Asia"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Abd","family":"Ullah","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Agriculture and Biology, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5890-2996","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Muhammad Zahoor","family":"Khan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Agriculture and Biology, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Changfa","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Agriculture and Biology, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"26","article-title":"Donkeys: Unsung Heroes of Agriculture, Health, and Sustainability in a Changing World","volume":"2","author":"Aroua","year":"2025","journal-title":"SSAR J. 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