Kenyan goat herders are taking on board some medical advice this week as droughts hit hard their cattle. The ancient old condoms called the "olor" won't allow the animals their fun and it will keep the numbers down before the rains come
Fifty miles away from the capital of Nairobi, the lands are suffering. The rainfall has been cruel to the herds this year, leaving very little soaked into the ground. The water is sparse and the plants non existent, so for the Maasai people - they're only means of survival is their animals.
To us mere humans it will seem perhaps the most uncomfortable thing to imagine wearing at the point of passion, yet the olor which is made out of cowhide (ouch!) will save lives this season as the droughts set in for the time being.
The goat condom which incidentally can be strapped on rather unattractively to the under side of the goat, also comes in plastic. The item stops the bucks from attempting to mate with the females, leaving a very frustrated goat in the Kajiado district. Never mind that, the herdsmen are more concerned about the weather. If the numbers of goats are kept to a minimum, it will mean more will survive the droughts that the country is now suffering. No rain means little to eat in the way of vegetation, and if there is little food, then the next generations of goat will surely die as quickly as they are born.
Distraught herdsman, Ole Ngoshoi Kipameto told news reporters,
"We don't want them to breed in this drought."
He explains,
"We tie this hide under the belly of the buck for three months. After that we remove it and then they can breed by November when the short rains come. (as for the olor itself,) It looks like an apron..."
Speaking as the area's
livestock officer, Peter Ndirangu told new press,
"In the modern method, we advocate keeping the bucks separate from the breeding goats. But that is an added cost as you require two herdsmen - one for the bucks and one for the goats. This [device] will play the part of a herdsman. If they give birth during harsh conditions like now, the mothers - the does - are going to be very weak, they're not going to feed their young ones properly."
If the weather keeps to it's usual calendar, the olors will be removed when the rains come this month and November.
Yet this is a process which is taken very seriously and a large fine is left at the foot of any herdsman who allows his bucks to fertilize another female during this crucial time.
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