Officials at the DLS said there has been a sharp rise in livestock production in recent years in the country reducing dependence on neighbouring countries for sacrificial animals during the Eid al-Adha.
Now there are some 61,72,990 healthy sacrificial animals across the country, in addition to 53,85,000 which are old, unproductive, unprofitable but suitable for sacrifices, raising the total number to 1,15,57,990, the DLS officials told newsmen.
According to government statistics, Bangladesh has 25.4mn cows and buffaloes, 29.3mn goats and sheep, totalling 54.7mn. They said there are some 3.34mn healthy cows and buffaloes in dairy farms across the country.
Besides, there are 1.11mn cows and buffaloes in private ownership, which are old, unproductive and unprofitable but fit for sacrifice.
The dairy farmers have 2.83mn sacrificial goats and sheep while in private ownership there are 4.27mn goats and sheep in this year, totalling 7.1mn.
DLS data shows that there are 31,60,675 cows, 1,81,980 buffaloes, 24,44,703 goats and 3,85,632 sheep in eight divisions of the country. In Dhaka Division, there are 3,90,030 cows, 10,650 buffaloes, 1,16,920 goats, and 21,948 sheep, totalling 5,39,548 animals.
In Chittagong, the total number of sacrificial animals in the division is 11,59,219. Of them, there are 8,58,170 cows, 42,286 buffaloes, 1,34,563 goats, and 1,24,200 sheep.
In Rajshahi, there are 6,79,165 cows, 2,046 buffaloes, 12,54,562 goats, and 1,28,088 sheep raising the total to 20,63,441.
In Khulna, the number of sacrificial animals in the division is 5,57,998. Of them, 3,20,369 are cows, 1,909 buffaloes, 2,20,100 goats, and 15,620 sheep.
In Sylhet, the number of sacrificial animals in the division is 3,38,531. There are 1,99, 870 cows, 23,182 buffaloes, 77,650 goats, and 37,829 sheep.
In Barisal, there are 2,46,419 cows, 91,510 buffaloes, 5850 goats, and 735 sheep, totalling 3,44, 514 animals. In Rangpur, there are 3,50,983 cows, 3,900 buffaloes, 1,27,903 goats, and 47,497 sheep.
In Mymensingh, the total number of sacrificial animals in the division is 6,39, 016. There are 1,15,649 cows, 6,397 buffaloes, 5,07,155 goats and 9,715 sheep.
DLS director general Dr Ainul Haque said: “Our farmers will suffer losses if we import sacrificial animals despite having enough local livestock production.” He asked people not to buy unhealthy and sick cattle.
In 2014, there were 9.6mn sacrificial animals in the country, while there were 10.9mn in 2015 and 11.4mn in 2016.
Last year, a large number of Indian and Myanmar cows were smuggled into Bangladesh.