KATHMANDU, Nepal — Live goat prices have spiked 25 percent as Nepalese officials scramble to head off a severe shortage before the Sept. 19 start of Dashain, the main Hindu festival.

“We are bringing goats in to ease the supply and to control dramatic price hikes,” said government spokesman Bijaya Thapa.

Goats by tradition are slaughtered during the 15-day festival to appease the Hindu goddess of power, Durga.

For the second-consecutive year, the Nepalese government is trying at the last minute to convince rural farmers to sell 6,000 goats for slaughter in Kathmandu alone, the BBC reported.

Just 240 goats had reached Kathmandu as of late Tuesday.

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Tags: Tradition

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