Donkey Milk Finds Demand In North Telangana

Nizamabad: Donkey milk continues to find demand in north Telangana, where people from families with young children to the elderly consume it for its perceived health benefits.

Vendors sell 50 ml of the milk for ₹50, bringing it to customers’ doorsteps.

The practice of drinking donkey milk has continued for generations in the erstwhile undivided districts of Nizamabad, Adilabad, Karimnagar and Medak, as well as neighbouring Nanded district in Maharashtra.

Donkey milk has attracted attention for its nutritional content and possible benefits, particularly for skin health and people who cannot tolerate cow’s milk.

However, experts caution that many claims about its medicinal properties have not been scientifically established.

The milk contains proteins, lactose, vitamins and minerals, including calcium and phosphorus, which support bone and dental health.

It is also relatively low in fat compared with whole cow’s milk.

Members of the Vaddera community rear donkeys and sell their milk to customers in villages and towns.

Vendors feed the animals bananas and maize and travel through remote villages and residential colonies from the early morning until 10 am.

They use loudspeakers to alert potential customers.

Several families in Nizamabad district are engaged in selling donkey milk.

D. Laxminarayana, 77, of Sarangapur in Nizamabad rural mandal, said his family had consumed donkey milk for generations.

“We prefer to provide donkey milk to the kids for health benefits,” he said.

He claimed that donkey milk helped treat cold, cough, fever and pneumonia.

He also said that consuming it after 10 am could increase body heat.

Donkey milk vendor Pallapu Shravan told Deccan Chronicle that demand varied by season.

The price of a donkey had risen from ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh, he said.

“Earlier, we used to collect ₹20 only for 50 ml of donkey milk, now its price has been hiked to ₹50,” he said.

Male donkeys are used to carry sandbags and for other work, while female donkeys are kept for milk production, Shravan said.

Vendors said they regularly took their animals for health check-ups at government and private veterinary hospitals.

Donkeys showing signs of illness or weakness were given medicines.

The vendors appealed to the state government to provide free medical care for the animals.