Drought kills thousands of cattle in north-western Tanzania

Nearly 6,000 cattle have died in Tanzania's northwestern region of Shinyanga between last September and February of this year due to drought, an official said Thursday.

Beda Chamadata, of the Shinyanga region's livestock office, said the animal deaths include 5,855 cows and 73 goats.

He said the region used have a total of 1,221,784 cattle, but now only has 1,973,628 cattle.

"We are still collecting data on livestock deaths caused by lack of feeds," he said, calling on livestock keepers to start practicing zero grazing to avoid losing animals during drought season.

In January, more than 3,000 cattle died in eastern Tanzania's Morogoro region due to severe drought.

Cattle farmers are urged to adopt sustainable ways of using pasture instead of decimating one area and moving to another. Endit