Bullock carts and horse carts on village roads are nothing new in Bangladesh, but people in the Durgapur Dighaltari area of Aditmari upazila, Lalmonirhat, saw something different: a cart pulled by goats. According to a Jagonews24 report of 15 February 2026, a young local man, Khorshed Alam, built a small cart drawn by his two pet goats, in which his children ride. When it appeared on the road on polling day, 12 February, many people stopped to watch, and the vehicle became the talk of the area.
Taking the children and the goats out together
Besides his work, Khorshed Alam likes to spend time with his children. At home he keeps two goats and cares for them like his own children. When he went out with the children he wanted to take the goats along too, but that looked odd. So he wondered whether he could make something that would let him take both out together. From that idea he built the cart, with his pet goats doing the pulling in place of an engine.
Aditmari is the smallest upazila of Lalmonirhat district in Rangpur Division, covering 195.03 square kilometres. Durgapur is one of its eight unions.
How the cart is built and driven
The cart sits on a light frame with two small passenger seats. At the front there is a separate arrangement for controlling the two goats. Khorshed Alam holds the reins, while his young child sits in the back seat and guides the goats with a small stick, as on a horse cart.
"I built the cart so that the goats suffer no physical hardship and are not hurt anywhere," Khorshed Alam told Jagonews24. "It is balanced so that only light pressure falls on them. The goats are also fed nutritious food on a regular routine so that their strength holds up."
Curious crowds on polling day
On 12 February Bangladesh voted in its 13th National Parliament Election, with polling from 7:30am to 4:30pm. The roads of Durgapur Dighaltari were busier than usual that day, and many people stopped at the sight of the goat cart. Local resident Alam said: "I have seen carts pulled by cows or buffaloes in Bangladesh, but a cart driven or passengers pulled by goats is completely new to me."
Neighbour Al Amin said: "Today I saw a sight like this for the first time. The man who built the cart thinks differently." In his view, such inventiveness should be valued so that the builder can make more new things in future.
When the cart goes out, people stare, some take photographs and some film it. For Khorshed Alam, though, the bigger reward is his children's joy. "People are amazed when they see it, but I like it. Instead of sitting at home I can go out with the children, and they enjoy it. That is my fulfilment," he said.
Goats in village homes, and small animals in harness
According to Banglapedia, more than 90 per cent of Bangladesh's goats are kept by rural people, and most are looked after by women and children. The Black Bengal breed makes up more than 90 per cent of the country's goats. This small goat is raised mainly for meat and skin, and most are fed by grazing field dividers, roadsides and embankments on grass, shrubs and tree leaves.
Goats are not normally used for pulling carts in Bangladesh. Carts, however, have been drawn not only by horses, donkeys, mules and oxen but also by smaller animals such as goats and large dogs, and photographs from the early 20th century in the United States show small goat carts made for children to ride in.
Photo: freeparking / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Sources: Jagonews24, Dhaka Tribune, Banglapedia, Wikipedia
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