A 40-maund black bull of the Friesian breed from Rajbari has become a talking point ahead of Eid. The four-year-old bull is 10 feet long and nearly 6 feet tall. Because its front is broad like a lion's and its hindquarters a little narrower, its owner has fondly named it 'Rajbari's Singhoraj' (lion king).

The owner of the huge bull is Suchinta Kumar Sen of Singa village in Dadshi union, Sadar upazila. The asking price for Singhoraj is Tk 25 lakh.

Suchinta's mother, Bhagirathi Sen, said the family bought the bull from Kushtia four years ago for Tk 75,000 and began raising it. It has since grown very large and looks just like a lion, which is why her son named it Singhoraj. Her son does everything for it, including bathing and feeding. It has to be bathed two to three times a day and now eats about Tk 600 to Tk 800 worth of feed daily. The family raised it on natural feed without any medicine. She said the bull now weighs about 35 to 40 maunds.

She added that a lot of money is being spent on the bull. They will sell it for Tk 25 lakh, but anyone who wants to negotiate on the price can do so. Even at a slightly lower price, selling from home would be better for them, because taking such a big animal to and from the market is very difficult.

Rajbari Sadar upazila livestock officer Dr Khayer Uddin Ahmed said that, given demand, farmers had been encouraged this year to raise small and medium-sized cattle rather than large ones. Even so, several people in the district have raised big cattle, and among them the bull of Suchinta Kumar Sen of Singar village in Sadar upazila looks excellent. The livestock department is working on the marketing of sacrificial animals and all related matters, he said.

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