Bali’s gently lowing cows, prized for their hardiness and doe-like temperament, will not become victims of the tropical island’s menacing Mount Agung volcano if villager Wayan Sudarma has any say in it.
A proud owner of 21 cows, Sudarma has been venturing daily into the no-go zone around the Indonesian volcano on a mission to rescue at least some of the estimated 20,000 cattle still grazing on its potentially lethal slopes.
Experts say that is highly risky. Fast moving hot clouds of ash, gas and rock fragments that explosive volcanoes such as Agung can expel would kill in seconds.
But Sudarma, who drives an old truck into the so-called red zone to pick up cows when contacted by other villagers, said he isn’t afraid.
“These are the only valuable belongings that are left in this situation,” he said as some of the rescued light-brown beasts lounged behind him, chewing their cud and mooing contentedly.