1,660 cows, buffaloes, goats in northern, eastern provinces died of cold weather: Ministry

The extreme cold weather that swept the North Eastern Provinces in the recent days, as many as 1660 cows, buffaloes and goats reported to have died in the northern and eastern provinces in the recent days.

The Livestock division that functions under the Agriculture Ministry's has released the latest figures of the animals that have died.

Accordingly, 691 cows and buffaloes and 296 goats had died in the Northern Province among the animal deaths, also 329 cattle were reported sick and 182 of them were cows and 147 goats.

511 cows, 44 buffaloes, and 108 goats have died in the Eastern Province. 15 cows and a buffalo were found sick.

Two days before, some 1,096 animals had died in the Eastern Province.

Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera instructed the Ministry Secretary to conduct post-mortem examinations and to submit a report to ascertain the cause of these deaths.

The minister also said it is necessary to provide extensive training to the farmers who are engaged in livestock farming to manage the situation during cold weather conditions.

The Ministry Secretary has also been instructed to prepare an appropriate work schedule to deal with such sudden change of weather conditions in the near future. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)