Hundreds flee as Mount Semeru spews lava and ash in Java, Indonesia
Photo Illustration
Hundreds of Indonesians have fled their villages after a rumbling volcano spewed hot ash thousands of metres into the air and belched lava down its crater.
Mount Semeru on Java island spouted the towering column on Tuesday, prompting a call for around 500 people to temporarily evacuate their homes.
Footage from the scene showed dead livestock covered by pyroclastic flows — a fast-moving mixture of hot gas and volcanic material — as steaming debris flowed into a nearby river.
Local disaster agency chief Agus Triono warned on Wednesday that residents could still be at risk as heavy rains threatened to trigger more volcanic flows from the still-spewing crater.
The eruption came days after Mount Ili Lewotolok roared back to life on the far eastern end of the archipelago nation.
Around 6,000 residents fled to shelters there after the crater ejected a thick tower of debris four kilometres (2.5 miles) into the sky on Sunday, triggering a flight warning and the closure of a local airport.
There were no reports of injuries or deaths.
Indonesia is home to about 130 active volcanoes due to its position on the “Ring of Fire”, a belt of tectonic plate boundaries circling the Pacific Ocean where frequent seismic activity occurs.
In late 2018, a volcano in the strait between Java and Sumatra islands erupted, causing an underwater landslide that unleashed a tsunami which killed more than 400 people.
Courtesy of macaubusiness.com
Thousands of animals dead due to flooding in Honduras
Thousands of animals dead due to flooding in Honduras
Courtesy of laprensa.hn
Hundreds of dead cattle due to drought and fires in Formosa, Argentina
The town of San Martín 2 is suffering the effects of the drought, in addition to human irresponsibility and strong winds.
The consequences: kilometers of burned fields were lamented, deaths of cattle and small livestock, as well as vehicles, fences and tools that were consumed by the fire.
The mayor of San Martín 2, Luis Rivero, from the Patiño department, commented that the fire that almost entered the downtown area could be contained thanks to the joint work between the police and the people.
Courtesy of elnueve.com.ar
Hundreds of livestock dying from Mosquitoes swarms in Louisiana, USA #Livestock #Cattle #Mosquitoes #Louisiana #USA
Huge swarms of mosquitoes are draining blood from and killing livestock in Louisiana after Hurricane Laura swept through the state.
The mosquitoes, which were pushed from Louisiana swamps as a result of the storm, are draining blood from deer and cattle, as well as a few goats and horses, who become exhausted from blood loss and die, veterinarian Craig Fontenot told the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center.
“They can’t get enough oxygen,” Fontenot explained.
Farmers in a five-parish area east and northeast of the parishes where the storm made its landfall Aug. 27 have probably lost 300 to 400 cattle, said Dr. Craig Fontenot, a large-animal veterinarian based in Ville Platte.
A deer rancher lost about 30 of his 110 animals, many of which already had been sold, Fontenot said.
“He’s saying it’s over $100,000 he lost,” the veterinarian said.
Jeremy Hebert, an LSU AgCenter agent in Acadia Parish, said the mosquito population “just exploded in the southwest part of the state,” and spraying programs appear to help, according to LSU.
“The spraying has dropped the populations tremendously. It’s made a night-and-day difference,” he said.
Fans and coverings could also help, though coverings could cause heat stress, said AgCenter extension veterinarian Dr. Christine Navarre.
Courtesy of foxnews.com
Almost 30,000 cows have died in Camagüey, Cuba #Cows #Camagüey #Cuba
Almost 30,000 cows perished in Camagüey until the end of July, 4,000 more than in the same period in 2019 and most of them due to malnutrition.
According to the official Adelante, only in the first seven months of the year 29,407 cows perished, 58% from hunger, which represents 4,212 animals more than last year.
Although the government does not have the sufficient capacity to properly maintain and exploit livestock, it prefers to hoard and lose them as a drain on hunger or thirst than to let Cubans use their meat or trade it in their own way to earn enough to support the rest.
Cuban breeders face the strict control of the regime, which although it does not give them anything to feed them or for other care that the animals require, they demand their quota and do not allow them to trade with them or their products, such as milk.
Meanwhile, despite the huge amount of cattle on the island, beef is practically prohibited in the territory’s stores and markets and when it is offered, it is in foreign currency stores with extremely inaccessible prices and it is also imported .
Although Camagüey is one of the provinces with the highest volume of livestock in Cuba, it is going through a great crisis in both milk and meat production.
Of the 161,449 cows of reproductive age in the region, only 74,995 are being milked, which represents 46%.
On the other hand, of the total number of cows and heifers of reproductive age, only 34% are in the artificial insemination program.
On the other hand, in the peasant sector, which owns 80% of these animals, only 23% are currently inseminated, while the rest get pregnant with free riding, but in many cases the bulls do not have good genetic conditions, also due to their bad nutrition.
Camagüeyan cattle farmers “owe” more than 13 million liters of milk to the industry so far, because after two years in which they have averaged approximately 90 million liters, this year they barely reach 75 million from an initial commitment of 88 millions.
The poor infrastructure of the Cuban food industry makes livestock farmers dependent on weather conditions, since cattle only eat grass, so in times of drought they run out of water and food, while hunger also affects them in case of storms.
This year’s drought has wreaked havoc on livestock, because if one of these animals stops drinking water for 24 hours it loses 10% of its body mass and after 72 hours its situation is classified as “impoverished”.
Of the 13 municipalities of Camagüey, only Sierra de Cubitas and Céspedes meet the agreed figures, while Guáimaro, Sibanicú, Jimaguayú and Camagüey are the most lagging behind.
Courtesy of periodicocubano.com
500 sheep killed by lightning in Nepal #Sheep #Lightning #Nepal
A massive thunderbolt in Nepal’s remote Jumla district on Sunday killed at least 500 sheep grazing in pastures high in the mountains, according to belated reports from the remote mountain region of northwestern Nepal.
The lightning struck during a monsoon storm on 23 August in Masimarema grazing land of Patrasi Rural Municipality and the sheep belonged to Bishnu Buda and Jaya Bahadur Buda of the Bagjalem Community Forest.
Because of the remoteness of the area, villagers have not been able to reach the site yet, said Ward Chair Kali Bahadur Rawat. The high pasture is the traditional grazing ground for the region’s livestock and dairy farmers during the monsoon months.
Jumla’s chief district administrator Tek Bahadur Budathapa said the lightning strike was a major blow to the villagers of Patrasi whose main source of income is their livestock, and the sheep were being readied for sale during the Dasain festival in October.
“The farmers were already hit by the economic crisis caused by the lockdown, and now this has happened, it is going to be difficult for them to survive and the government will do what it can to provide rehabilitation,” Budathapa said.
This is the second worst disaster to hit the district’s animal husbandry in recent years. In 2013, more than 700 sheep were killed in winter blizzards.
With nearly 900 human fatalities in the past ten years, lightning accounts for the highest number of deaths in natural disasters – second only to the 2015 earthquake. Nepal in fact tops the list of countries with the most lightning fatalities per unit area. More people die every year in electric storms in Nepal than in the whole of North America, according to statistics.
Every year, an average of 100 people are killed by thunderbolts, and meteorologists say freak electrical storms are also occurring during unusual times, such as early mornings. Studies have linked the increase in intensity and frequency of thunderstorms to climate change.
Nepal is also the most densely populated mountainous country in the world, and lighting in the mountains are also deadlier because the flashes have to travel less distance. Within Nepal, Makwanpur district south of Kathmandu has the highest death rate from lightning strike with 70 deaths in the past seven years. In the same period, Jumla only had three fatalities from lightning.
Courtesy of nepalitimes.com
100,000+ livestock dead due to snowstorms in Rio Negro, Argentina #Livestock #Snowstorms #RioNegro #Argentina
Intense snowstorms and frosts hit Patagonia amid one of the region’s worst winters in two decades, which has badly affected the agricultural sector. More than 100 000 livestock animals have perished, according to officials’ first estimate of losses, who also warned that herdsmen in the highlands may lose up to 70 percent of the flock. In early August, an agricultural disaster emergency was declared for the affected territories.
Officials conducted the first assessment of losses together with technicians from the Agriculture Technology Institute, covering highlands next to the cordillera.
“Anyhow, we are talking of at least 100 000 sheep and 5 000 cattle,” said provincial livestock secretariat Tabare Bassi this week.
Bassi further warned that the severe weather could cause the death of 70 percent of the flock in the high areas of the Patagonian Argentina’s Rio Negro Province.
Intense snowfall followed by frosts affected mostly small farmers with flocks no larger than 250 heads, “which makes it a serious survival challenge,” he said.
“We estimate that the worse losses are along the mountainous terrain between 1 000 and 1 300 m (3 280 to 4 260 feet) above sea level, while at sea level we can expect sheep mortality in the range of 30 percent.”
While snow in the lower lands will help renew pastures during spring, Bassi pointed out that the main concern is the small farmers in the highlands who make money out of wool and survive winter feeding on mutton.
“We will have to give them some sort of support.”
Rio Negro senator Alberto Weretilneck proposed an initiative requesting extensive economic aid for the affected farmers, “which is one of the conditions considered in the Sheep Farming Recovery Fund,” when there is an agriculture emergency as a result of severe weather conditions.
Weretilneck recalled that in early August, the province has declared an agriculture emergency, and it is urgent to enforce measures that will enable them to address the situation, which is forecast to worsen.
Patagonia has been gripped by one of its worst winters in the last 20 years, with Rio Negro among the worst affected provinces.
Courtesy of watchers.news
Hundreds of cattle dead ‘due to cold weather’, ‘never seen this before’, in Mato Grosso, Brazil #Cattle #MatoGrosso #Brazil
The cold wave that hit Brazil this week advanced through the Midwest and caused damage to farms in Mato Grosso. According to reports by cattle ranchers in the cities of Reserva do Cabaçal and Salto do Céu, in the southwest of the state, the cold weather from Saturday to Sunday, 23, killed several Nellore cattle.
“These two cities, which are located in a higher region, there are reports of a thermal sensation at 0 ° C, something extremely unusual here in Mato Grosso. From what I heard, there were several cases registered in these two locations, ”said the president of the Rural Union of São José dos Quatro Marcos (MT), Alessandro Casado.
For the Nelore PO (Pure Origin) cattle breeder, Amauri Nazário Pinheiro, the morning was a shock at Fazenda Iruama, in Reserva Do Cabaçal. When he went out to see the animals, he found 12 lifeless and eight others lying down. “We found these animals dead because of the cold. Those who are still alive, we are applying medicine to see if it gets up, but it is certain that of these eight, at least four or five must die ”, he said.
According to the creator, the loss so far recorded is R $ 150 thousand.
According to him, the cases were widespread in the city. “In my neighbor next door, 27 cattle died of cold. In the other neighbor, there were 21 so far, in another property there were five and, in a farm closer to the road, two more. I believe that just because of these close cases, we had at least 100 animals that died of cold in the city, since many people don’t even know that they lost cattle, because there was never that here ”, he commented.
The rancher says that the animals that died were the youngest and were in the open. “On this property, we do not have forest near the pasture, except at the edge of the stream, where it is even colder. The animals that died were certainly exposed to wind and cold, something that never happened here. So much so, that on another property we have, the animals managed to take shelter in the forest and there was no case. ”
If the weather forecast indicates colder weather like this, Amauri informed that he intends to take the cattle to the property that has more protection from the winds. However, the forecast is for an increase in temperature and another cold like this should not happen anytime soon. “The sun is already coming out and it’s heating up right here. But if I have a cold like this again, I intend to take the animals to the other property or close in a corral, with canvas to protect during the night ”, he concluded.
“We’ve never seen this before”
The creator José Ginevaldo Vitório, from the Recanto das Águas farm, was also surprised by the death of five Nellore animals. On his farm, the herd of 350 cattle suffered from the sudden drop in temperature. “We’ve never seen that before. We lost five Nellore cows, but we had neighbors who were much more impacted. We had reports of a producer who has 50 to 60 animals in confinement, and who lost up to 20 animals ”, he said.
According to the rancher, in a radius of 20 kilometers from his property, at least 200 animals died from the cold, especially calves from two and a half to three years old. In addition to the herd animals, wild animals were found in the field. “The cold was so intense, that I found a porcupine, known as Luis Caxeiro, with no life in the field. Herons, birds and even bats also died ”, he concluded.
Courtesy of canalrural.com.br
Cargo ship with 43 crew and nearly 6,000 cattle sank off Japan, survivor says #Ship #Sinking #Cattle #Japan
A cargo ship carrying 43 crew members and nearly 6,000 cattle sank off the coast of Japan after reportedly losing an engine in rough seas caused by Typhoon Maysak, a survivor has said.
The Filipino crew member, named as Eduardo Sareno, a 45-year-old chief officer, was rescued late on Wednesday after Japanese navy P-3C surveillance aircraft spotted him wearing a life vest and waving while bobbing in the water.
Sareno, who was in good health, told rescuers the ship capsized before sinking, according to Yuichiro Higashi, a spokesman for the Japanese coastguard’s regional headquarters which is conducting the search for survivors with 4 patrol boats, two aeroplanes and divers.
The Panamanian-registered vessel, Gulf Livestock 1, sent the distress call early on Wednesday from the East China Sea, to the west of Amami Ōshima island in south-west Japan, the Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported.
According to Sareno, the ship lost an engine before it was hit by a wave and capsized, a coastguard spokeswoman said. Crew were instructed to put on life jackets as the ship capsized, he said, adding that he had jumped into the water and had not seen any other crew members before he was rescued.
He feared not all were able to hear the instruction to put on life jackets, according to the Department of Labor and Employment in Manila. Sareno is currently in hospital in Japan.
The crew comprises 39 Filipinos, two Australians and two New Zealanders, the Kyodo news agency said.
One of the missing Australians is Lukas Orda, 25, of Queensland, who was working on the live export ship as a veterinarian, a job he had only begun in June after leaving a horse veterinary practice on the Gold Coast.
Michael Lowcock, a Catholic priest from the town of Mount Isa in Queensland, said Orda’s family were “very devastated” by news the ship had sunk. He said Orda, with his wife Emma, had recently had their first child – a son named Theo. Orda’s parents are both well known doctors in their community.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) said it was in touch with the families of the two Australians onboard.
“The Australian government is providing consular assistance to the families of two Australian crew members onboard a cargo vessel reported missing in Japanese waters,” Dfat said.
The cause of the distress was not immediately known, but the weather was rough in the area due to Typhoon Maysak. Strong winds and torrential rain from the typhoon had initially hampered the search operation, but the weather has improved, Higashi said.
The vessel, owned by Gulf Navigation Holding based in the United Arab Emirates, departed Napier in New Zealand on 14 August with 5,867 cattle onboard, New Zealand’s foreign ministry told Reuters.
The vessel was en route to the port of Jingtang in Tangshan, China, with an estimated journey of approximately 17 days, it said.
Australian Associated Press reported the shipment was believed to have been put together by Australasian Global Exports, a Melbourne-based exporter that operates across Australia and New Zealand. The company’s executive director of procurement, Graeme Turner, declined to comment.
The exporter is believed to be responsible for employing stockhandlers and vets, with the shipping company employing the crew.
The New Zealand animal rights organisation Safe said the tragedy demonstrated the risks of the live animal export trade. “These cows should never have been at sea,” said Safe’s campaigns manager, Marianne Macdonald. “This is a real crisis, and our thoughts are with the families of the 43 crew who are missing with the ship. But questions remain, including why this trade is allowed to continue.”
Typhoon Maysak had weakened to a tropical storm as it arrived off the east coast of North Korea on Thursday. North Korean state TV showed flooding along the eastern coast but there were no immediate reports of casualties. The country is vulnerable to natural disasters due to its poor infrastructure, with flooding in deforested mountains and hills a particular concern.
Earlier on Thursday, the typhoon had brought down trees and caused flooding in parts of South Korea, knocking out power to more than 270,000 homes and leaving at least one person dead.
Courtesy of theguardian.com
Almost 3,000 cattle dead due to drought in Las Tunas, Cuba #Cattle #Drought #LasTunas #Cuba
Illustration Photo
This June 9, the state-owned Periódico 26, belonging to the province of Las Tunas, outlined the critical situation in which the largest cattle are in that province, two thousand 954 cattle have died from malnutrition in recent months.
“The main causes of the deaths continue to be malnutrition, with two thousand 954”.
This is mainly because the farmers are not able to guarantee the food for the dry season, and it is not only about the grass, or the feed, this also includes not having sufficient water reserves. Keep in mind that at least one beef needs 120 liters of the precious liquid daily.
But the situation goes a little beyond these figures, as detailed in the newspaper 26 Newspaper.
“Until the end of May, the province accumulates seven thousand 069 deaths, with two thousand 593 more than in the same period of the previous year and an index of 2.80 percent, of 1.65 allowable. By municipalities, are Tunas (860) and Jobabo (642) had the worst results in that period “,
The bovine mass in Las Tunas amounts to 241 thousand 800 heads, to which must be added more than 2,600 buffaloes, as Jorge Luis Lozada Hechavarría, deputy delegate of Livestock in the Delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture, recently declared to the press. He specified that these animals are in the hands of some 15,000 owners.
Another cause that affects livestock losses is accidents , with 922. “For these two reasons alone, 54.8 percent of total losses occurred, ” said the aforementioned state newspaper.
Courtesy of adncuba.com
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