Pakistan’s animal army marches to markets for haggling at annual festival
For livestock farmers across Pakistan, the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha is an opportunity for them to make good money
Once a year, Pakistanis mobilise for an operation that is akin to a major battle taking place in terms of scale and blood being spilled.
Much is at stake – at least financially – as veritable four-legged armies numbering hundreds of thousands march on Pakistan’s population centres from farmsteads around the country.
For the livestock farmers leading the sieges, the deals cut at pop-up markets for sacrificial bulls, goats and sheep – along with the occasional camel – on the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha determine if their efforts over the last six months or so were worthwhile.
The vast majority of breeders are either sharecroppers or own small landholdings barely capable of turning a profit, and many live below the poverty line. They spend half the year raising small flocks and herds for Eid al-Adha to supplement their limited income.
An estimated 1.1 million farm animals were killed by the Indus river superfloods in 2022, which inundated a third of Pakistan.