Horses Starve To Death As Pandemic Hits Bangladesh Tourism

Bangladesh is battling a fresh wave of coronavirus infections that has stretched its healthcare system and triggered a nationwide lockdown.

More than 20 horses have died of starvation in just one month at Bangladesh's most popular resort district, the animals' owners said Sunday, as the country's tourism industry reels from the pandemic's economic fallout. The South Asian nation of 168 million people is battling a fresh wave of coronavirus infections that has stretched its healthcare system and triggered a nationwide lockdown. The horses' owners said they were struggling to afford fodder for their animals, which are used for tourist rides at Cox's Bazar beach -- one of the world's longest. "Once coronavirus hit, tourist numbers... sharply dropped to a trickle," Farida Begum, spokesperson of the Cox's Bazar Horse Owners Association, told AFP.