Thousands of cattle die in E Tanzania due to severe drought

Over 3,000 herds of cattle have died in eastern Tanzania's region of Morogoro due to severe drought over the past two months, authorities said Monday.

Stephen Kebwe, Morogoro Regional Commissioner, confirmed on the situation, saying Kilosa District is one of the highly affected areas with drought in the region.

He revealed that for the past two months a total of 3,829 herds of cattle died due to lack of pastures and water.

"Always the district gets the first rains in November but, this time no single drop of rains since last April," the official said, attributing the situation to climate change.

The official urged pastoralists to change the way they use pasture in the country by adopting sustainable ways instead of decimating one area and moving to another.

One of the local herders, Lekule Mutusi, said tens of his cattle had died. "The situation here is bad. I tried to save the lives of my cattle by feeding them with husks but in vain," he said, noting that pastoralists in the area were in a state of despair as all their attempts had failed.

"When our animals die, our very own lives are threatened," he said. Endit