Water buffalo herds in Dhi Qar marshes collapse amid drought

DHI QAR — Water buffalo herders in the southern marshes say their livelihoods are collapsing as drought and shrinking waterways have cut herds nearly in half.

“We have no water to drink, neither for ourselves nor in the marshes, and what remains is very little because of the drought. We are living with great difficulty,” herder Juma al-Mousawi told 964media. “Last year many of our animals died, and this year as well when the water dried. Our lives depend on buffalo, and with no water in the marshes we are forced to sell them.” He urged the government to open a river channel and provide water tankers, saying, “We and our children are suffering.”

Many herders have sold livestock at low prices and moved to cities, though some say they cannot adapt to urban life. “Buffalo raising is inherited from our fathers and grandfathers,” al-Mousawi said. “We want the authorities to see our suffering and find solutions. Our areas are disaster zones.”

Another herder, Hamed Khairallah, said: “We were harmed greatly after the water dried up and found no one to listen to us. We ask the government to reach us and hear our problems, including diverting a river to feed us water. There is the Um al-Maarek River, and if one of its tributaries were diverted, water would reach us and help us preserve our animals.”

District administrator Zaki Mansour confirmed the crisis. “Most buffalo herders have left the area. There were 33,000 buffalo in Karmah Bani Saeed, and now the number is less than 18,000. This is a real disaster threatening the livestock wealth,” he said. He called for amphibious excavators to channel water from nearby streams and for daily tankers to supply drinking water and fill buffalo ponds.

Ali Nasser, head of livestock resources in the district, said the marshes are “turning into a barren desert.” He added: “We need amphibious excavators to create ponds for buffalo and deliver water to save what remains of the herds and prevent herders from leaving. Salinity has reached about 4,000, which makes the situation even harder.”