Star Metro - 'Trump' buffalo spared sacrifice, sent to Bangladesh zoo

Muslim-majority Bangladesh, a South Asian nation of 170 million people, celebrates Eid al-Adha, the "feast of the sacrifice", on Thursday.

The 700-kilogramme (1,500-pound) bull, a rare albino buffalo with a flowing helmet of light hair resembling the signature look of the US president, was due to be slaughtered to mark the day.

But hours before it faced the knife, the government stepped in to save the animal, which has become an online sensation.

Curator of the National Zoo, Atiqur Rahman, said the animal would be well looked after.

"We have designated a shed for the albino buffalo and assigned a caregiver," Rahman told AFP on Wednesday. "He will be quarantined for two weeks."

Crowds in Bangladesh had flocked to snap photographs with the unlikely social media star.

Zia Uddin Mridha, 38, the buffalo's former owner, said his brother had named it "Trump" because of its "extraordinary hair".

Mridha said a constant stream of curious visitors -- social media fans, onlookers and children -- came eager to see the animal.

However, he sold the bull ahead of Eid al-Adha.

But police has swooped after the government ordered that the buffalo be spared.

"The livestock department requested us to take the buffalo from the owner as it is a rare animal," Mohammad Ruhul Quddus, officer-in-charge of Dhaka's Keraniganj Police Station, where the buffalo was taken, told AFP.

"They said that the albino buffalo is still very young, and can be raised for a few years."

More than 12 million livestock including goats, sheep, cows and buffaloes are expected to be sacrificed during the holiday, when many poorer families get a rare chance to feast on meat.

G.Boudreau--SMC