WATCH: Buffalos in northern Iraq under threat of disappearance, says owner

A Buffalo owner in eastern Mosul called upon the governments in Erbil and Baghdad to allow him to return to Mosul’s Badush village before his buffalos die.
kurdistan24.net

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – A Buffalo owner in eastern Mosul called upon the governments in Erbil and Baghdad to allow him to return to Mosul’s Badush village before his buffalos die due to polluted waters.

Following the emergence of the Islamic State (IS) in Mosul in June 2014, hundreds of thousands of people were displaced to the Kurdistan Region and other parts of Iraq.

Ahmed Omar is the owner of 500 buffalos from the Badush village. He moved to the liberated part of eastern Mosul in 2015.

According to him, IS stole over 1,000 of his buffalos and moved them to Talafar and then to Raqqa in Syria.

The area where he lives now in eastern Mosul is not suitable for the animals because the waters are polluted, according to the buffalo owner.

He mentioned many of his buffalos have died due to a lack of clean water.

“If the Kurdistan Region or federal government of Iraq does not help me move back to Badush with my buffalos, all of them will die soon,” he told Kurdistan24. “We appreciate whoever helps us in this regard.”

Omar explained his buffalos hadn’t produced any milk for two months due to the unsuitable environment, polluted water, and lack of food.

Badush is located in the northwest of Mosul. The Iraqi forces liberated the village in the middle of March 2017.

Nineveh is one of the richest provinces with thousands of buffalos due to the nature and water resources in the area.

Omar believes buffalo owners would face enormous financial damage if the federal government of Iraq did not act.

He also pointed to the tremendous burden the death of the buffalos would cause the animal resource department in the country.

 

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany

(Additional reporting by Hemin Hayni)