Pastoralists find 40 cattle dead after eating poisonous grass in Taraba

Story from Kenneth AFOR, Lagos

Not more than 40 cattle have died in Taraba State on Sunday after reportedly eating a poisonous grass called “killer grass”.

It was gathered that all the cattle belong to a pastoralist in Gamgam village of Bali Local Government Area of the state.

According to reports, the incident occurred at about 11:00 am shortly after a young boy identified as Ja’i, led a herd of cattle into a grassland where the cattle ate the poisonous grass.

A villager, Ali Bello, noted that 40 out of the 200 cattle died few hours after they ate the grass.

He said the grass is found in some locations in the state and it is difficult to identify the species of the grass especially at the beginning of rainfall when animals rush to eat fresh grasses.

Bello said that Ja’i and his family soon after the incident, moved away with the remaining herds to another location to avoid a repeat of the incident.

According to him, such incidents are recorded from time to time, adding that poisonous grasses have always been a nightmare to Pastoralists in the area.

“As I’m talking to you, all pastoralists in this area have migrated out of the area to prevent their herds from eating the killer grass,” he said.