Herding sheep and goats onto the livestock carrier Lily-J (a former Swedish car ferry now renamed and registered in Lome, Togo) in the port of Berbera, Somaliland. It's a 2-day voyage from Berbera to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where 2.6 million animals will be ritually sacrificed on the third day of the Hajj pilgrimage. Due to the extreme heat (temperatures ranged from 95°F to 108°F that day), most of the animals were only loaded at night and early morning for the 2-day voyage to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. According to Islamic tradition, all pilgrims to Mecca are required to sacrifice a ruminant on the third day of the Hajj, and sheep and goats are the least expensive way to fulfill this religious requirement, with at least 2/3 of the meat donated to the poor. Somaliland is the largest exporter of livestock in the region and shipped 1.6 million sheep and goats for this year’s Hajj. Somaliland is a self-declared democratic republic, which is not formally recognized by any UN member state and is one of the world’s poorest regions. Live animal exports are 85% of Somaliland’s export earnings and 30% of its GDP, and indirectly employ 70% of the population.
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- ©2023 George Steinmetz
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