Heat becomes new threat to Pangasinan carabao

IN PANGASINAN province, carabao are not only farm animals but also art canvases during festivals. WILLIE LOMIBAO/CONTRIBUTOR

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – The intense summer heat has become a new threat to the fast dwindling carabao population in Pangasinan province, officials here said.

Dr. Eric Jose Perez, provincial veterinarian, said the carabao, the country’s national animal, was prone to heat stroke and could drop dead due to heat if measures are not taken during these hot months.

“Unlike cows, which can tolerate heat more, carabaos easily weaken with heat,” Perez said.

Gloria de la Cruz, director of the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) in Rosario town, La Union province, said her agency had been reminding farmers to give their carabao more water and bathe them at least three times a day.

Pangasinan has been experiencing high temperatures since the start of the summer season on March 26, with the highest temperature of 37 degrees Celsius recorded on April 1.

“Many of our farmers already know what to do. Aside from giving [their carabao] more water to drink, they also give them vitamins,” Perez said.

No case of carabao dying from heat exhaustion has been reported in the province so far.

In January, the PCC said the province’s carabao population was fast falling because they were being slaughtered for meat and processed products.

The Bureau of Agricultural Statistics said the number of carabao slaughtered in the province increased from 9,502 heads in 2010 to 11,252 in 2012.

As a result, the province’s carabao population decreased from 110,268 heads in 2010 to 77,609 in 2012.

Pangasinan’s carabao population in 2010 constituted 60 percent of the carabao population in the Ilocos region. In 2012, it dropped to only about 50 percent of carabao in the region.

Perez said only 14 towns and Alaminos City had a good number of carabao in the province.

He also said that last year, the volume of meat and meat products produced from carabao reached about 6,685 metric tons, which, he noted, was way below Pangasinan consumers’ demand of 8,867 MT.

To arrest the dwindling carabao population, the PCC began cross-breeding carabao with foreign-bred Murrah buffalo through artificial and natural insemination.

Pangasinan Governor Amado Espino Jr. has allocated P2 million for a program to help in breeding carabao for milk. Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon