COLOMBO, Dec. 10 -- Sri Lanka's livestock and poultry sectors have suffered severe devastation in the wake of Cyclone Ditwah, with tens of thousands of animals killed and egg production plunging sharply, officials said.

Director of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Health, K. K. Sarath, told local media that the cyclone had killed 35,000 cattle and 2,000 pigs, dealing a major blow to farming communities across the island. Sri Lanka's cattle population is estimated at around two million, he said.

The pig farming sector has been particularly hard-hit, coming at a time when it was only beginning to recover from the African Swine Fever outbreak that caused widespread losses in recent years.

While cattle and pigs suffered large-scale c...