A major goat cull in central North Hwanghae Province recently has sparked considerable alarm among North Korea’s veterinary authorities, Daily NK has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in North Korea told Daily NK on Sept. 22 that 40% of the goats raised on ranches in Sohung County, Rinsan County and elsewhere in North Hwanghae Province were suddenly culled in mid-September. The ranches immediately reported the cull up the chain of command, and veterinary authorities launched an inspection.
According to the reports from the ranches in question, the direct cause of the cull was a parasitic disease.
Believing that the ranches may have culled more goats than they reported, North Korea’s veterinary authorities intensified their inspections, with prosecutors stepping in to investigate sanitation and quarantine conditions on the ranches.
“Grassland parasites live in the grass or soil, and goats are particularly susceptible to parasites because they eat even the roots of the grass,” Cho Chung-hee, the director of Good Farmers’ research institute and an expert on North Korean agriculture told Daily NK.
He said because goats raised on pasture land are susceptible to parasitic disease, the most important thing is disease prevention.
Therefore, ranches must sanitize grasslands before allowing goats to graze, but North Korea faces a shortage of disinfectants and pesticides.
Ranches forced to create their own pesticides and other chemicals
According to the source, the percentage of goats culled due to parasitic disease has climbed since the country’s borders were closed in 2020.
Prior to the border closure, it was relatively easy to import the disinfectants and pesticides the ranches needed from China. Since the borders have remained closed, however, farms and ranches have been producing the chemicals themselves.
As for disinfectants, ranches are mixing chloroform, chlorine, salt and other raw materials, and for pesticides, the ranches are using poor substitutes they make themselves from dried medicinal herbs of unproven efficacy.
Given the failure to provide these basic chemicals that livestock businesses need, there appears to be no clear solutions to the parasite problem.
In related news, a veterinary quarantine station in North Hwanghae Province recently ordered livestock businesses to “do a good job executing projects to independently make and use veterinary chemicals from medicinal herbs, while obtaining — at the right time — disinfectants, medicines and treatment implements needed to prevent and treat infectious diseases among domestic animals, in connection with the relevant agencies.”
Basically, the report suggests that even provincial-level government agencies are doing little except ordering ranches to make disinfectants on their own.
“Culls of goats due to parasitic infections have long been a chronic problem in North Korea,” Cho of Good Farmers told Daily NK. “Even North Korea’s veterinary authorities know that the government should provide disinfectants and pesticides for the pastures to resolve this problem, but given resource shortages and the inability to import what they need, [the government] is simply emphasizing self-reliance.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of sources who live inside North Korea, China and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK’s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page here.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
