MAKKAH: There has been a price hike of between 10 to 20 percent for sacrificial animals this year compared to 2009, according to traders at a sheep and goat market in Makkah. There is a greater demand this year because there is no longer any fear of swine flu, which kept a number of pilgrims from performing Haj last year. Last Monday, more than 100,000 Somali sheep arrived at the Jeddah Islamic Port to add to the 400,000 sheep that had already arrived to meet the demand this Haj season, said Sulaiman Al-Jabri, head of the Livestock Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in a report carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). The price of Barberi, a type of sheep from Sudan and Somalia, has increased from SR300 to SR350, said Mohammad, a Pakistani salesman at the Kakiya sheep and goat market in Makkah. The price of the Savkni type of goat increased from SR450 to SR550. The price of the large Savkni sheep ranges between SR600 to SR1,000, he said. The price of Thez, another variety of goat, increased from SR280 to SR330. The female goat is less expensive, he said. Mohammad said the going price for the locally-bred Harri, Naimi and Najdi range between SR900 and SR1,200. The price of a cow increased from SR2,000 to SR2,500, said Saleh, a salesman at the market. Camels are also more expensive. A camel now sells for SR2,500 compared to SR2,000 last year, said Ali, another salesman at the market. A larger camel may even cost SR4,000, he said. There are three modern slaughter houses in the Kakiya market with a capacity to slaughter over 100,000 animals a day. The Makkah Municipal authorities have measures to ensure the entry of healthy animals. Veterinarian doctors at the market inspect the animals kept in the many stalls. They also check the condition of slaughtered animals. Once the doctors have done their checks, the carcass is allowed to be taken out of the slaughter house. Saudi Arabia imports goats and sheep from Africa, Somalia and Sudan. Sheep are also imported from Syria and other European countries.
