BUTA PHOTO Journal

THE MOST MISERABLE CREATURES ON EARTH

Domesticated chickens and cattle may well be an evolutionary success story, but they are also among the most miserable creatures that ever lived.
Today, while capturing preparations for tomorrow’s worldwide Eid celebrations in Tamale, Ghana, I visited a cattle market and reflected on a chapter from Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind.
For thousands of years, cattle have been deeply connected to human survival, culture, faith, and celebration.
Ten thousand years ago, only a few million sheep, cattle, goats, boars, and chickens lived in restricted Afro-Asian niches.

Today, the world contains about a billion sheep, a billion pigs, more than a billion cattle, and over 25 billion chickens.