Cattle markets in city and nine upazilas of the district have become vibrant as sacrificial animals started pouring into local cattle markets ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha. Market operators said wholesale cattle traders are sending livestock to the city markets and nine upazilas of the district from different districts in Khulna division.

“There is no shortage of cattle supply to the markets, though there are no Indian cattle this year,” said Shahidul Islam, a cattle trader who came from Kalia upazila of Narail. But market observers and buyers said the price of a medium sized cow ranged between Tk 50,000 and 80,000 and goats are being sold at prices between Tk 15,000 and Tk 20,0000, which appears a little higher than the previous years. Traders attributed the higher price to the soaring price of animal feed and transport cost.

Talking to the news agency, Bazar Super of KCC Md Selemur Rahman said KCC earned Tk 1.65 crore selling over 7,032 sacrificial animals last year at KCC’s Zoragate makeshift cattle market. He hoped that the city corporation would make profit of Tk 2 crore from the sale of 10,000 cattle. A total of 29 cattle markets were set up at nine upazilas of the district.

Khulna District Livestock Officer Agriculturist Md Abdul Hannan told the news agency that a total of 1, 12,365 sacrificial animals were sold before Eid-ul-Azha last year in Khulna division.