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----- Original Message -----
From: [log in to unmask]
Date: Monday, October 6, 2008 10:14 am
Subject: Goat "Condoms" save Kenyan Herds
To: [log in to unmask]


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> 
> Goat 'condoms' save Kenyan herds
> By Ruth Nesoba
> BBC News, Nairobi
> 
> 
> 
> The olor is held in place by a rope or an elastic strap
> 
> Maasai herdsmen in Kenya have turned to an age-old contraceptive  
> device, the "olor", to protect their precious goat herds from an  
> ongoing drought.
> 
> The olor is made from cowhide or a square piece of plastic, and is  
> tied around the belly of the male goat.
> 
> It prevents the bucks from mating with the female goats.
> 
> The herdsmen are using the device to limit the goat population and  
> ensure there are not too many animals grazing on sparse vegetation.
> 
> "We don't want them to breed in this drought," says Mr Ole Ngoshoi  
> Kipameto, a goat owner in Kajiado district.
> 
> Vital assets
> 
> The area, which is 80km (50 miles) from the capital, Nairobi, has  
> received insufficient rainfall, making the landscape barren and  
> forcing residents to move from place to place in search of pasture and 
>  
> water.
> 
> In the Maasai community, livestock are often people's only assets and  
> 
> sole means of survival.
> 
> "We tie this hide under the belly of the buck for three months. After  
> 
> that we remove it and then they can breed by November when the short  
> 
> rains come," Mr Kipameto says.
> 
> 
> The olor saves employing separate herdsmen for male and female goats
> 
> The rectangular piece of cowhide is passed over the buck's head and  
> front legs and secured under the belly in front of the hind legs with  
> 
> a rope or elastic strap.
> 
> "It looks like an apron," Mr Kipameto says.
> 
> Peter Ndirangu, the area livestock officer, says the olor is very effective.
> 
> "In the modern method, we advocate keeping the bucks separate from the 
>  
> breeding goats. But that is an added cost as you require two herdsmen  
> 
> - one for the bucks and one for the goats," he says.
> 
> "This [device] will play the part of a herdsman."
> 
> He says the device is very useful in keeping the herd numbers down and 
>  
> controlling when the goats give birth.
> 
> "If they give birth during harsh conditions like now, the mothers -  
> the does - are going to be very weak, they're not going to feed their  
> 
> young ones properly," he says.
> 
> The device helps the herdsmen to restrict kidding to the period during 
>  
> and after the rains.
> 
> If the rains fall in October and November, the dry landscape will turn 
>  
> green again and the herdsmen will be able to settle with their  
> livestock.
> 
> Until then, the herdsmen will have to employ the olor to protect their 
>  
> livestock and livelihood safe.
> 
> Those who do not use it could face a hefty fine if their bucks are  
> found guilty of impregnating another herder's doe.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "A candle loses nothing of its light by lighting another candle"
> 
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