Cold snap kills 200 cows on West Coast N.Z

[Mark]

“Last week’s “blizzard-like” cold snap has killed more than 200 cows on farms on the West Coast of the South Island,” says this article in the New Zealand Herald

“WeatherWatch said the wind chill made it feel as cold as -15C in some places, in weather described as “unlike anything to have hit the region before”.
 
“It was a howling easterly over here with horizontal ice pellets – it wasn’t hail, it was different than hail – it wasn’t sleet, it wasn’t rain. There were trees blown on the road and you couldn’t hardly stand up,” said Federated Farmers’ West Coast president Katie Milne.
 
In spite of heroic efforts by farm staff, neighbors and veterinarians, they were unable to move the stock to shelter. “When the cows were exposed to freezing conditions, they huddled together, turned their backs to the wind, and would not move.”
 
“The few that were persuaded to move were the ones that were saved; the cows that obeyed their instincts and refused to budge were the ones that died.”
 
Weatherwatch analyst Phillip Duncan said the “brutal” wind chill continued in some parts of the South Island yesterday.
 
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10812706

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[TokWW]

A shocking loss.  Animals can be so stubborn at times, and yet for others, they trust their master in anything.  Herding animals follow their leader not man.