Hundreds of thousands of cows are believed to have died in floods in northern Australia after the state of Queensland was hit by record rainfall.
A torrential downpour that lashed the coastal city of Townsville on Saturday and Sunday swept inland and flooded grazing land across the region this week.
The floodwaters are estimated to have killed up to 300,000 cattle worth up to $300m Australian dollars (£164m) to the country’s farming industry, according to Australian Associated Press.
“It’s devastated the country … there’s stock dead everywhere. Not just cattle, it’s sheep, kangaroos, wild pigs, they’ve all died and suffered from it.”
“We’ve had a year and a half of rainfall in about seven days,” Mr Bulley added.
Annastacia Palaszczu, the Premier of Queensland told Australia’s ABC News she had witnessed a “sea of dead cattle” when she toured one part of the flooded region.
“To see the cattle spread across these yards not moving, it made you feel sick in the stomach,” she said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters: “We are expecting hundreds of thousands in terms of stock losses. This will be heart-breaking to these communities that have been experiencing years of drought only to see that turn into a torrential inundation.”
Authorities plan to drop bales of hay for the surviving cattle stranded in flooded areas. Affected farms will be eligible to apply for grants of up to $25,000 Australian dollars (£13,700) as part of a disaster recovery fund.