Buffalo, cattle stranded in Caprivi floods

A HERD of about 250 buffalo and as many as 15 young calves are stranded on a small island in the Zambezi River, about 40 kilometres from Kasika.

They are among about 1 000 head of cattle trapped by the flooding river. Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Ndeutapo Amagulu, said yesterday that it appeared “animal instinct” was the reason the buffalo were not moving to dry land.Following an aerial investigation, Amagulu said the animals were not standing on a natural island, but one created by the sand.He said the buffalo probably viewed the Namibian inland as to far to walk, while reaching Botswana, which is closest to them, was probably seen as too dangerous for the young calves who would have to cross a deep channel to get there.Amagulu said his Ministry was consdering dropping bundles of grass from the air for the next month, as the area where the animals were standing was likely to become overgrazed.Further upstream, an estimated 1 000 cattle are standing in the river at various points, finding themselves in a precarious situation as they become prey for crocodiles.”I’m afraid I just don’t see that anything can be done,” said Amagulu.He added that as Namibia did not have any pontoons to transport the animals to safety, these would have to be acquired from Zambia.But it was possible that the vessels would not be able to travel to the area because of the rapids along the way to the Caprivi.The Chief Animal Health Technician in the region, Alfred Chilenda, said yesterday that the State Veterinary Office was carefully watching the situation, but said it was likely that the stranded animals would suffer from foot rot in the coming weeks, while weaker ones could die.He added that although a thorough foot and mouth disease vaccination campaign had been carried out before the severe flooding, the possibility existed that there could be a breakout, especially if the animals were grazing with buffalo.”Disease conditions are very prominent, especially as smaller and weaker animals compete for ground with stronger animals.It is likely they could starve and bring bacterial diseases,” he told The Namibian.Chilenda said he also expected worm infestation among the animals.But he was confident that his division would be able to stem an outbreak of disease.He said that although most villagers had been evacuated from the area, the animals were still being cared for by farmers and herd boys.He said they would be provided with an injectable tetracycline drug should they detect foot rot.Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Ndeutapo Amagulu, said yesterday that it appeared “animal instinct” was the reason the buffalo were not moving to dry land.Following an aerial investigation, Amagulu said the animals were not standing on a natural island, but one created by the sand.He said the buffalo probably viewed the Namibian inland as to far to walk, while reaching Botswana, which is closest to them, was probably seen as too dangerous for the young calves who would have to cross a deep channel to get there.Amagulu said his Ministry was consdering dropping bundles of grass from the air for the next month, as the area where the animals were standing was likely to become overgrazed.Further upstream, an estimated 1 000 cattle are standing in the river at various points, finding themselves in a precarious situation as they become prey for crocodiles.”I’m afraid I just don’t see that anything can be done,” said Amagulu.He added that as Namibia did not have any pontoons to transport the animals to safety, these would have to be acquired from Zambia.But it was possible that the vessels would not be able to travel to the area because of the rapids along the way to the Caprivi.The Chief Animal Health Technician in the region, Alfred Chilenda, said yesterday that the State Veterinary Office was carefully watching the situation, but said it was likely that the stranded animals would suffer from foot rot in the coming weeks, while weaker ones could die.He added that although a thorough foot and mouth disease vaccination campaign had been carried out before the severe flooding, the possibility existed that there could be a breakout, especially if the animals were grazing with buffalo.”Disease conditions are very prominent, especially as smaller and weaker animals compete for ground with stronger animals.It is likely they could starve and bring bacterial diseases,” he told The Namibian.Chilenda said he also expected worm infestation among the animals.But he was confident that his division would be able to stem an outbreak of disease.He said that although most villagers had been evacuated from the area, the animals were still being cared for by farmers and herd boys.He said they would be provided with an injectable tetracycline drug should they detect foot rot.