Ibex goats are dying in large numbers in Kirthar National Park, authorities have confirmed.
According to local sources, four more ibex were found dead on Sunday while nine infected animals were traced by wildlife officers.
Local sources have also reported that dead ibex are being cremated and buried, while efforts are being made to clean the ibex’s watering holes.
The water in which the dead ibex were found has been blocked by planting bushes around it. While the water has become very polluted after decomposing ibex were found in it, locals claim the water will clean naturally with rains.
Ibex are apparently suffering from an epidemic called Peste des Petits Ruminants, or PPR.
Locals explain that this ‘goat plague’ is a virus that spreads rapidly, usually infecting sheep and goats. It is thus feared that the disease has been spread to ibex from goats
Currently, there are around 25 thousand ibex in Kirthar and so far, 35 have died.
Deputy Conservator of the Department of Wildlife, Hyderabad, Wahid Shaikh told Geo News that samples of the dead ibex have been sent to the laboratory for analysis, adding that the Sindh Wildlife Department has sent more teams to the affected area.
On Monday, Novak Djokovic surpassed Steffi Graf’s all-time record for the most weeks as the world No 1 tennis player with a total of 378 weeks. Djokovic returned to the top spot five weeks ago after winning the Australian Open and tying Rafael Nadal’s all-time men’s record of 22 majors. This was his first time back at No 1 since June 2020.
Djokovic expressed his pride in being among legendary names, saying “It’s surreal to be that many weeks No 1… I’m proud of it.” The top 5 players with the most weeks as the world No 1 are Djokovic (378), Graf (377), Martina Navratilova (332), Serena Williams (319), and Roger Federer (310).
Djokovic first reached the No 1 ranking at 24 years old on July 4, 2011, after winning his third grand slam and first at the All England Club by beating Nadal in the Wimbledon final. Since then, Nadal has spent only 107 weeks at No 1 out of a total of 209, compared to Djokovic’s 378. Federer, who holds the record for most consecutive weeks at No 1 with 237 from 2004-08, has been No 1 for only 25 weeks since Djokovic first debuted in the top spot.
Djokovic’s first test after setting this record is the Dubai Championships, where he will face qualifier Tomáš Macháč in the round of 32.
Pakistan Economic Survey (PES) 2021-22 revealed that the number of horses in Pakistan climbed by 0.4 million, while donkey population increased to 5.7 million in the preceding fiscal year.
The number of donkeys has been rapidly expanding in recent years, with 5.5 million in 2019-2020 and 5.6 million in 2020-21, Geo reported.
Pakistan’s cow population remained at the top as it surged to 53.4 million, with buffalo at 43.7 million, sheep at 31.9 million, and goats at 31.9 million, as per the estimated figures provided by the Ministry of National Food Security and Research.
Pakistan had 1.1 million camels, 0.4 million horses, and 0.2 million mules. It should be noted that these figures have remained unchanged since 2017-18.
From 2021 to 2022, livestock provided around 61.9 per cent of agriculture value addition and 14.0 per cent of national GDP.
Animal farming is the most important source of income for Pakistanis living in rural areas. More than 8 million rural families are involved in livestock farming, and this industry accounts for 35-40 per cent of their income.
The gross value addition of livestock has increased by 3.26 per cent from Rs5,269 billion in 2020-21 to Rs5,441 billion in 2021-22.
The government has refocused on livestock in order to boost economic growth, food security, and poverty alleviation in the country.
Former Pakistan cricket team captain Mohammad Hafeez has announced his retirement from international cricket, ending a career spanning more than 18 years with the Pakistan side. His international debut was in an ODI against Zimbabwe in 2003, and his last match was Pakistan’s defeat against Australia in the T20 World Cup semi-final last November.
The 41-year-old top-order batter and off-spinner, has signed up with Lahore Qalandars for the upcoming edition of the PSL and will continue to be available for franchise cricket around the world.
As per his ESPN cricinfo, Hafeez played 55 Tests, 218 ODIs and 119 T20Is while amassing 12,780 runs across formats, and grabbed 32 Player-of-the-Match awards, the fourth-highest among Pakistan players in all international cricket, with only Shahid Afridi (43), Wasim Akram (39) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (33) above him. In addition to that, Hafeez also earned nine Player-of-the-Series awards, joint-second with Imran Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis.
Hafeez retired from Test cricket in December 2018, with selectors later deciding to move on from him in ODIs after the 2019 World Cup, where he played his last match of the format – against Bangladesh at Lord’s.
He is the only Pakistan player to have played in all but one T20 World Cup – the one Pakistan ended up winning in 2009 – and holds the Pakistan record for most T20 World Cup appearances. Hafeez also led Pakistan to the 2012 World T20 semi-final.
After he announced his retirement, his colleagues and Twitterati wished him good luck with heart-warming messages.
Oye Ustaada @MHafeez22 great international career MaShAllah…You have been an outstanding player & a team mate.Thank you for serving Pakistan cricket. All the very best for future Happy Retirement Ustaad G! pic.twitter.com/n2U5bB3kD2
The Paris Saint Germain (PSG) star Lionell Messi has grabbed another record seventh Ballon d’Or on Monday night.
Messi, 34, effectively retained the trophy he last won in 2019 — controversially, the award was not handed out by France Football last year because of the coronavirus pandemic — after a year in which he ended his long wait for an international honour, winning the Copa América with Argentina, and left Barcelona, the club where he had spent all of his career, for Paris St.-Germain.
“It’s incredible to be here again,” Messi said. “Two years ago I thought it was the last time. Winning the Copa América was the key.”
“I don’t know how many years I have left,” he added, “but I hope many more.”
Messi finished with 613 points in the voting, only 33 more than the runner-up, Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski. In 2019, the last time the trophy was awarded, Messi beat Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk by only seven points.
Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo has hit back at the editor of France Football who claimed the Manchester United forward’s only ambition is to “retire with more Ballons d’Or than Lionel Messi”.
Ferré told the New York Times: “Ronaldo has only one ambition and that is to retire with more Ballon d’Or [awards] than Messi. I know because he has told me.”
However, Ronaldo has disputed that version of events and took to Instagram to claim that Ferré “lied” during the interview.
Television host and actress Mathira has questioned the system after a goat has been gang-raped in Okara.
The Blind Love diva took to her Instagram story to express her take on the matter.
The Main Hoon Shahid Afridi star recently took to Instagram to empower women for their dressing choice as netizens have been criticizing certain actresses for their choice of clothes at the 5th Hum Style Awards.
The Raasta actress added that women should wear whatever they want and whatever clothes they feel happy wearing. She wrote further, “People sit at home and criticise others, They should do their job and not interfere in other people’s affairs.”
In a bizarre incident, the Indian police ‘arrested’ a goat that was wandering in India’s Beconganj area ‘without wearing a mask’.
The Beconganj police picked up the goat and took it to the police station in a jeep. When the owner of the goat got to know that the police had taken it away, he went to the police station.
He pleaded with the cops and the police released his goat but warned him not to allow the animal to roam on the road.
Circle officer, Anwarganj police station, Saifuddin Beg, however, said that the police had found a youth without a mask, taking the goat along.
“When he saw the police, he ran away leaving the goat behind so the policemen brought the goat to the police station. Later, we handed over the goat to its owner,” he said.
One of the policemen who had brought the goat admitted that they found a lockdown violation because the goat was without a mask. “People are now making their dogs wear a mask so why not a goat?” he said.
The police apparently changed its version after people started joking about it on social media.
In 1996, farmers in the United States asked that the label of goat meat be changed to mutton since people were confusing it with sheep meat. That’s how underrated the goat was – and still is – in the United States. To promote the great goat in Europe, certain cities celebrate the month of October as Goatober. But the goat is still second, third, fourth-best to other animals. Even though it’s lower in fat than chicken and has more protein than beef. Basically, it’s pretty darn special but underrated.
In the Middle East, special takes time but minimal effort. An age-old way to cook goat meat, a method that involves underground ovens and whole goats, still practiced in Arab countries, especially Jordan and Palestine. A skinned goat, with its head intact, is made to sit on a bed of potatoes and vegetables on a large silver platter and slowly lowered into the ground, into an oven with hot coals.
The Goat is skinned and lowered into an underground oven with hot coals
The oven is then closed with a lid and covered with the earth. Five hours later, it is slowly raised out, its meat divinely falling off the bone, its eyes, small black dots. In Jordanian and Palestinian culture, its tradition for the guest of honor to get the first bite of the goat tongue.
Five hours later
With a steaming goat, proudly displayed in the middle of the dining table, the host breaks open the jaws of the goat, rips out the tongue and tears out a piece. It is then presented to the guest of honor who has to eat it, with pleasure. Tradition also states that if the host presents a guest with the black eye of the goat, he is declaring enmity and showing his disdain towards the guest.
In the modern version, using a goat leg, make cuts in the leg and stuff the grooves with garlic cloves. In meat, you can never have enough garlic so use as many as you can fit in. Rub salt and pepper. Using a large, oven safe pot, put the leg in with carrots, whole garlic heads, onions and potatoes. Add as much as six potatoes, three large onions cut in portions like the aloos in a biryani. Cook it in the oven on low heat, around 190 C for five hours. Keep checking to see if it’s drying out, and if it is, add water or better yet, add vegetable or chicken broth. Cook it until the meat fall off the bone. Tongue and black eye optional.
