Karachi`s rooftop cattle gets a crane lift to the ground

Pakistan`s Syed Ejaz Ahmad started raising calves in a rooftop shed about 15 years ago. As they grew in size, it became difficult to lead oxen down the narrow staircase of his house.

KARACHI, PAKISTAN: Residents of Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, watched as cattle were lowered by crane from the top of a four-story home ahead of the Muslim festival Eid al-Adha. 

Unlike other Muslims who buy animals for slaughter a few days before the sacrificial holiday, Syed Ejaz Ahmad, 55, said raising his own calves was more economical. 

Ahmad started raising calves in a rooftop shed about 15 years ago. As they grew in size, it became difficult to lead oxen down the narrow staircase of his house.

His solution? Call a crane service. 

The operation has become an annual event in Ahmad`s neighborhood of Nazimabad, where a crowd cheered as it watched the spectacle unfold.

"I was a bit scared when I did this for the first time," crane operator Mohammad Hanif said this week as he swung Ahmad`s seven cows and oxen to the ground. 

"When the animal`s feet struggled, I thought it might break the straps and fall on the crowd of people, particularly children," he said. "Now I have a lot of practice doing it." 

Eid al-Adha is one of the two most important festivals of the Islamic calendar and commemorates the willingness of Ibrahim, or Abraham, to sacrifice his son on God`s command.

Muslims mark the holiday by slaughtering animals such as sheep and goats and sharing the meat with family and friends, as well as donating it to the poor.