Donkey Marketing: A Case Study from Mangrota Camel Fair

The Mangrota camel fair attracts many donkey breeders to sell out their ready to sale animals. Usually, heavy draught breed of the donkey (Shinghari) is brought in the majority. Shinghari is found and bred in the high mountainous area of Suleiman especially in the Kibzai area of Zhob and Kohaie area of Musakhel District DONKEY BREEDS OF NORTH-EASTERN BALOCHISTAN, PAKHTOONKHUA, AND SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN . The light breed of donkeys (Pundi) is mostly brought from the Daman area of Suleiman region. The Pundi or Sperki donkey is smaller in size and usually use for light work in agriculture, carting and also use for water transport for family purposes. Here below is the number and types of the working animal participated in the fair.

Table. Number of Animals Participated in the Fair

	2006	2007	Total	% Participation
Camel	6700	10330	17030	91.35
Donkeys	480	724	1204	6.46
Horses	130	272	402	2.16
Mule	2	4	6	0.03

Donkey prices

The demand for donkeys especially Shingharri increased with the passage of time because of donkeys demand in the metropolis of Punjab where the donkey cart can easily travel in the narrow streets to provide cheap and easy transportation to looming industry. The light breed (Pundi) is mainly used for light draught work and water transportation. The donkeys are also bought by the people of Darya Khan, Jandola, Laki, Pizo and D.I. Khan of NWFP, and Layya, Bhakkar, and Karor area of Punjab province for different draught purposes.

donkey biodiversity — Shingharri breed of the Donkey

The average prices for the mature Shinghari donkeys were Rs.13, 425, ranging from 8,000 to 32,000. One Shinghari hinny was sold at Rs 32,000, which was the highest rate in Mela.

Increasing trend in donkeys’ rates @ Rs 25,00-4,000/ per animal was observed. The reason for the increasing donkeys’ rate was the growing demand.

Table. Average Prices of animal from the contractor record

No	Age	Average price per animal (Rs.)
		Camel		Donkeys		Horses
		2006	2007	2006	2007	2006	2007
1	4< yr ♂	50,000	48,500	13,000	13,850	44,000	49,000
2	4< yr ♀	40,000	39,000	9,000	8,000	47,000	55,000
3	2 yr ♂	25,000	25,700	N/A	6,550	N/A	16,700
4	2 yr ♀	22,000	23,000	N/A	5,600	N/A	19,000
5	1 yr ♂	20,000	21,000	N/A	4,000	N/A	13,000
6	1 yr ♀	18,000	19,000	N/A	N/A	N/A	9,000