Forty cattle have died after allegedly eating a type of poisonous grass called ‘killer grass’ in Gamgam village in the Bali Local Government Area of Taraba state.
It was gathered that the incident occurred around 11am Sunday shortly after a boy simply identified as Ja’I led a herd of cattle, belonging to a pastoralist into a grassland where the cattle ate the poisonous grass, DAILY TRUST reports.
A witness in the village, Ali Bello, said that few hours after the cattle ate the grass, 40 out of the herd of about 200 cattle died.
He said the grass is found in some locations in the state and it is difficult to identify the species of the grass, especially at the beginning of the rainy season when animals rush to eat fresh grasses.
Bello stated that Ja’I and his family soon after the incident took the remaining cattle to another location to avoid a repeat of the incident.
He said such incidents were recorded from time to time and poisonous grass has always been a nightmare for pastoralists.
“As I’m talking to you, all pastoralists in this area have migrated out of the area to prevent their herds from eating the killer grass,” he said.