Marsabit farmers left counting losses after losing 504 goats
Goat carcasses strewn in Shankera village in Marsabit North Sub-County on Thursday, March 28, 2019. PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
One family reportedly lost 324 goats on Thursday evening. Another family lost 130 goats on Friday.
Marsabit County Livestock director says officials to investigate incident.
Deaths occured following heavy rains at the weekend.
Several families in Marsabit County are counting heavy losses after hundreds of goats died following heavy rains.
According to Hurri location chief Bonaya Racha, 504 goats died in Hurri Hills shortly after rains hit the area last week on Thursday.
One family reportedly lost 324 goats on Thursday evening and another 130 on Friday.
Mr Racha said 50 more goats died on Saturday at Shankera village.
“The animals died after drinking water after short rains experienced in this area on Thursday through Saturday. We suspect they might have succumbed to pneumonia,” Mr Racha said.
He said that goats had painful coughs, difficulty in breathing and loss of appetite.
A livestock expert who works with a non-governmental organisation in the county and who sought anonymity said that such sudden death of the animals could be attributed to poisoning or hypothermia.
But Marsabit County’s Livestock director, Dr Boku Bodha, said that they have not yet received any official information about the incident.
“I am not in a position to give a conclusive report about the incident since I was also just informed about the same. Our teams are already on the ground and will soon undertake an investigation on the cause of death,” Dr Boku said.
