Carabao drops dead from heat in La Union

DAGUPAN CITY—The scorching summer heat has taken its toll on the carabao, the national work animal.

A female carabao in Bauang town, La Union province, died from heatstroke last week, leaving behind a month-old calf.

Gerardo de la Cruz, Bauang livestock inspector, said the carabao, owned by farmer Angelo Abenoja, “dropped dead without any warning” in Barangay (village) Central East.

This was the second case of a carabao dying from heatstroke in the Ilocos region, according to Gloria de la Cruz, director of the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) in Rosario town in La Union.

The first incident, she said, took place last week in San Fabian town, Pangasinan province, when a male carabao died because of heat exhaustion.

The local weather bureau has recorded temperatures in the province that exceed 36 degrees Celsius, with the highest recorded on April 1 at 37 degrees Celsius.

“We keep on reminding farmers to give their carabao more water and to bathe them at least three times a day,” De la Cruz said. When a carabao starts salivating or panting, it must be given water to drink, or it must be bathed immediately, she said.

Pangasinan veterinarian Dr. Eric Jose Perez said in an earlier interview that the carabao was prone to heatstrokes and could drop dead due to heat if measures were not taken during these hot months.

“Unlike cows, which can tolerate heat more, carabao easily weaken due to heat,” Perez said.

The PCC recently launched a campaign to save Pangasinan’s dwindling carabao population by crossbreeding them with foreign-bred Murrah buffalo through artificial and natural insemination.

A provincial government ordinance also prohibits the selling and slaughtering of “quality” carabao. The ordinance also establishes a buy-back plan in which the provincial government buys female carabao to be distributed as additional stock to dairy cooperatives in the province.

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

The province’s carabao population decreased from 110,268 head in 2010 to 77,609 in 2012.

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 carabao meat and meat products reached 6,685 metric tons, which, he noted, was way below Pangasinan consumers’ demand of 8,867 MT.