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Govt team evacuates cattle from Mt Agung's 'red zones'
The Agriculture Ministry's Animal Husbandry and Animal Health Directorate General has set up a joint volcano emergency readiness team, which has been working since Monday to evacuate cattle belonging to residents living in the vicinity of Bali's Mount Agung
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Safe: Cattle graze at a temporary shelter built by the Agriculture Ministry, after they were evacuated from the disaster-prone red zones around Bali's Mount Agung. (Courtesy of the Agriculture Ministry/File)
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he Agriculture Ministry's Animal Husbandry and Animal Health Directorate General has set up a joint volcano emergency readiness team, which has been working since Monday to evacuate cattle belonging to residents living in the vicinity of Bali's Mount Agung.
The team comprises personnel from the animal husbandry directorate general; the House of Representatives Commission IV overseeing agriculture and marine sectors, the Bali administration, the Bali Animal Husbandry and Animal Health Agency, and the Karangasem Agriculture Agency.
Read also: High alert: Mt. Agung eruption imminent
“Some residents have voluntarily evacuated their cattle to the homes of nearby relatives that are relatively safe. Some of the cattle have been sold. We predict we still need shelters for around 10,000 cattle,” Volcano Emergency Readiness Team head Syamsul Ma’arif, who is also the ministry's Veterinary Public Health director, said on Monday.
About 17,000 cattle need to be evacuated from the four Karangasem districts in the red zones of Mt Agung, which would be directly affected in the event of an eruption.
Syamsul said members of the team had been dispatched to the disaster-prone locations, equipped with medical supplies to provide immediate treatment for cattle that were sick or injured.
Read also: Mt. Agung evacuees outside danger zone told to go home
He added that other units from the joint team were scouting locations where temporary cattle pens could be built, while identifying local sources of food and water for the cattle.
As of Monday, seven shelters with a combined capacity of 5,000 cattle have been erected across Karangasem and Klungkung regencies. (ebf)
