KARACHI: The three-day Sindh Livestock Expo 2025 drew a large number of visitors on its second day, Saturday, it being a weekend.

The expo was organised by the Sindh livestock and fisheries department in collaboration with the agriculture department, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and the city commissioner.

Most of the visitors happened to be families. Parents could be seen encouraging their children to pat a buffalo, calf, goat, horse or camel. Many clicked pictures with them, too.

There were many indigenous buffaloes and cows, goats, too, which had been crossbred with foreign breeds. Mashook, a keeper at theHS Cattle Farm stall, was busy feeding two Sibi bulls who, he insisted, were calves even though they were both quite big and tall.

`If you think these two are big, you should meet Hercules,` commented Nida, a visitor passing by. She said she had given her heart to Hercules.

Hearing a statement like that, one just had to meet Hercules. And there he was, on the catwalk, rather `cattle walk`, created by the organisers at the back of the animal enclosures for the Cattle Show.

Hercules must be the tallest bull at the Cattle Show with the biggest and sharpest horns. Parents were telling their children to stay away from him even though his keepers insisted that he was a gentle giant.

Another visitor there, Faizan, was pulling his better half`s leg when he said that the cattle resembled his in-laws.

`I brought my dear wife here today to meet her relatives,` he winked and smiled as his wife pointed to a couple of camels. `And thosetwo remind me of my in-laws,` she said.

There were also goats and horses at the exhibition, though no one found any resemblance between them and humans.

But at the Badshah Cattle Farm stall there was Titan, a buffalo with a pink nose, constantly rubbing its head on a pole. `Perhaps he is a crossbreed with a cat,` someone quipped.

Tabish Raza, Titan`s keeper, said that the buffalo belonged to the Gulabi breed. `We call them Gulabi [pinkish] because of their pink noses,` he explained.

Meanwhile, Fahim and Rubina had come hoping to buy a goat or cow. `None of the animals here are for sale,` informed Rubina.

`Still, we are jotting down the contacts mentioned on the banners and standees at the various stalls to later call and check if we can book an animal for Eidul Fitr,` she said.

There were some milking cows and buffaloes with their little calves also. Buffalo Basheera was there with Baby Basheera and Rukhsana, the red cow, was there with Baby Rukhsana. It was explained that the calves are given the same name as their mothers until they get names of their own.

When asked if the calves get to be nursed by their mothers or was their share of the milk sold off, their keepers reminded that they were not milk dealers.

`We are breeders. We may take a cup or glass of milk for making tea, but after the calves get their complete feed. It`s their right,` Dr Ghulam Hyder Khaskheli, officer in-charge, Livestock Experiment Station, Korangi, told Dawn.

Sindh Minister for Livestock Muhammad Ali Malkani said that he had been inviting the livestock ministers from other provinces of Pakistan at the Livestock Expo.

`My intention is exchange of views about the livestock breeds and their breeding practices in other parts of the country to produce healthier animals,` he said.

Syed Ashig Hussain Kirmani, the Minister for Livestock and Agriculture in Punjab, visited the Livestock Expo on Saturday afternoon. `I have come here with the blessings of my Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sahiba, who requested me to join hands with the Sindh Livestock Department for the betterment of livestock in the country. The indigenous animals that are here are not just indigenous to Sindh, but to Pakistan,` he pointed out.

`It was good to also get to know the stakeholders, and especially those in the private sector who are looking to bring a revolution in the livestock business here,` he added. `We want to help such breeders and farmers,` he added.

`We also want Minister Malkani to now visit Punjab to understand our work with livestock there.

Our collaborations will go a long way for the betterment of the country,` he said.

The Sindh Livestock Expo 2025 concludes on Sunday.