Mouth And Foot Disease In Miyazaki, Japan

How will this slaughter of 49 stud bulls in Miyazaki Prefecture due to the spread of foot-and-mouth disease affect the local beef industry? Local authorities want to keep the animals alive.

The decision was confirmed during a meeting between Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano and senior vice farm minister Masahiko Yamada at the prime minister's office. The slaughter of the 49 will leave only five seed bulls in the prefecture, which have been separated from other cattle.

In the International Year of Biodiversity, no less.

"It is a celebration of life on earth and of the value of biodiversity for our lives. The world is invited to take action in 2010 to safeguard the variety of life on earth: biodiversity."

For the sake of biological diversity, please save the 49 bulls.