A huge bull named 'Isha Khan' has become the talk of Netrokona's sacrificial animal market this year. The black-and-white Friesian bull, aged three years and eight months, weighs about 42.5 maunds, stands 5.5 feet tall and is nearly 9 feet long.

Isha Khan is especially fond of the leaves of the sheora tree. With Eid-ul-Azha approaching, its owner Khairul Islam is preparing to sell it, and says he will sell after negotiation if he gets a good price.

Khairul Islam lives in Fachika village of Kailati union in Netrokona Sadar upazila. He is a former union parishad member for Ward 5 of the union.

Visiting his home on the afternoon of 24 May, this correspondent found Isha Khan tied with plastic rope between two jackfruit trees in the yard. Curious people and buyers from far and wide had come to see the animal, some taking photos and others filming videos.

Local people and the farmer said the bull was born on Khairul Islam's own farm. It was fed its mother's milk and raised by traditional methods, growing steadily with regular feeding and care. At just two months old, its dignified gait led the family to name it 'Isha Khan'.

Last year some buyers offered up to Tk 9 lakh for the bull, but Khairul Islam did not sell out of affection for it. This year he has decided to sell it for the Eid sacrifice.

"I raised the bull like my own child, alongside my son and two daughters. I could not sleep at night without seeing it first," Khairul Islam said. Its diet includes fresh grass, straw, bananas, wheat and rice bran, oil cake, broken rice, vegetables and the leaves and vines of various plants, but its favourite food is sheora leaves.

He said the calm-natured bull is always kept under an electric fan and must be bathed every day. In all it needs about one maund of feed a day. "It now weighs 42.5 maunds. In photos and videos it looks small, but in reality it is very big. If I find a good buyer, I will sell it now after negotiation," he said.

Netrokona district livestock officer Mohammad Shahidul Islam said farmer Khairul Islam had been raising the bull on the advice of the livestock department. Fed entirely on natural feed, it has grown to an enormous size. "It seems to be the biggest bull in the district. It weighs more than 1,600 kg. The livestock department will continue its efforts to produce cattle like this," he said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.