Bangladesh Saves 'Trump' Buffalo From Eid Slaughter
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- The Bangladesh government ordered a rare 700kg albino buffalo nicknamed "Donald Trump" for its flowing blond hair spared from sacrifice hours before Eid al-Adha on May 28, after the animal had become an online sensation
- National Zoo curator Atiqur Rahman said the buffalo will be quarantined for two weeks in a designated shed with an assigned caregiver
- Former owner Zia Uddin Mridha, 38, told AFP his brother named the animal "Trump" because of its "extraordinary hair" and that crowds of social media fans and children had flocked to see it before he sold it ahead of Eid
- Mohammad Ruhul Quddus, officer-in-charge of Dhaka's Keraniganj Police Station, said the livestock department requested the buffalo be seized as a rare animal that is "still very young, and can be raised for a few years"
- Bangladesh's Eid al-Adha observance sees more than 12 million livestock including goats, sheep, cows and buffaloes expected to be sacrificed, with poorer families getting a rare chance to feast on meat
Why it matters: The government override of a routine livestock sale on the eve of a holiday that will see over 12 million animals sacrificed shows how viral fame — amplified by the buffal o's Trump-resembling blond hair — can override both commercial transaction and religious custom. The 700kg albino, too rare and too recognizable to slaughter, now becomes a publicly funded zoo attraction in a country where most sacrificed animals end up as a once-a-year meal for lower-income families.
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