By RICHARDSON DHALAI and NALINEE SEELAL Friday, February 3 2012

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CAUGHT: A cow, deemed as a rogue, wanderer, is caught and pulled toward the open tray of a van to be taken away and auctioned in Cedros on Wednesday, ...

CEDROS and Icacos cattle owners were yesterday granted a reprieve by the Ministry of Food Production to secure their livestock following Wednesday’s roundup of stray and wild cattle in the sprawling coconut estates and dense forests by Defence Force personnel and Ministry officers.

In a media statement yesterday, Food Production Ministry corporate communications director Yolande Agard-Simmons noted that Ministry officials would focus on assisting cattle owners to “corral their stray cattle.”

‘‘The Ministry of Food Production in collaboration with the Ministry of National Security, (Defence Force), Zoological Society, Sugarcane Feed Centre, Veterinary Public Health officers, Livestock Scientists and specialists have pledged support to cattle owners who made requests yesterday (Wednesday), for assistance to corral their stray cattle,” the release stated.

“As a result of the Ministry’s exercise which commenced on Wednesday, the team is focusing on assisting cattle owners.” However, the statement added: “The Ministry is making yet another plea for all cattle owners to seek its assistance to combat this problem.” The Ministry noted that on day one of the exercise, two cows were tranquillised and taken to the Cedros Breeding Unit while another three, had to be “felled (killed) as upon attempts to tranquillise, they posed a threat to members of the team.”

“We wish to reiterate the position that our first point of action is to tranquillise these animals and the felling of any animal is only as a last resort.”

Yesterday, Minister Bharath told Newsday: “When we went on Wednesday we realised that a number of the wild cattle had been taken away by their owners, which is what we had hoped for and we also discovered that the animals which were previously roaming the streets were no longer there.

“Some of these animals cause a hazard to the community and we attempted to deal with it in the most humane way and because there were not as many as before in the South Western Peninsula I gave a directive to stop any killing.”

With reference to reports that two of the cows killed on Wednesday were pregnant, Bharath said initial reports suggest that none of the animals killed were pregnant. However, the Minister said he was awaiting a full report before making further statements.

When Newsday visited Icacos yesterday, cattle owners armed with lengths of rope and cutlasses, were seen going into the dense brush in pursuit of their stray cattle, while at the edge of the roadway, several cattle trucks with specially built enclosures, were parked.

Cattle owner, Frankie Ramsey, 58, said Ministry officers held a meeting with cattle owners and residents to inform them about the decision to allow the owners to gather their cattle from the brush.

He said while supportive of the Ministry’s efforts to control the spread of wild cattle, he pointed out that the cattle which had been rounded up during Wednesday’s exercise were not “wild” but merely “strays”, allowed to run loose by their owners.

“Is a good thing what the Ministry is doing but is not the wild cattle they hunting down, is people cattle that were allowed to run loose,” he said. Is up in Red Hill and Green Hill the wild cattle are. You can’t just approach them so when they are in the bush, they could attack you if they feel you want to attack them,” Ramsey said.

“But, stray cattle or wild cattle, both of them destroy crops. You can’t plant anything, down to the young coconut trees and all are eaten. Asked about the origins of the wild cattle, Ramsey said the problem began generations ago when residents, who owned one or two cows allowed them to graze on lands adjacent to the sprawling coconut estates.

“Bur after awhile, everybody cattle start to mix and breed and you couldn’t tell which cattle was yours and which was not and by that time the cattle start to go deeper into the forest and eventually they got wild,” he said. Another Icacos resident, Pran Ramcharan also agreed with the roundup though noted that the culling of the cattle could be performed in a more humane way and not slaughtered.

When Newsday visited the Cedros Breeding Unit at Bois Borough Road yesterday, workmen were observed at the centre while the news team was told that officers were attending an indoor meeting.