A passion marks weekends in certain neighborhoods of the City of the Sun: cockfighting. The stakes can be high and roosters are prepared and trained with daily care. Cockfights can last one hour and fifty-five minutes. The roosters face off until one emerges victorious, to win money for their owners. Cockfighting remains both a leisure activity and a pursuit cherished by many men and fathers in Toliara. In Betsingilo, a neighborhood on the city's outskirts, a fighting arena has existed for nearly twenty years. The venue belongs to Rasolofonarivo, known as Riri, who always speaks with pleasure about his passion for this practice.
"Yes, you could say that owners make money through their roosters. But it's more than that—it's a whole leisure activity. Roosters are selected and trained to become fighters. They need vitamins, tonics, quality food and plenty of it. It's daily maintenance and we're always eager to bring them to fight on weekends," he explains.
Last Saturday, late in the afternoon, two roosters familiar to regulars entered combat. Generally, a match lasts one hour and fifty-five minutes. The roosters are well-known to the venue's enthusiasts, who come regularly on weekends. One is called Ferdinand. His owner bet 100,000 ariary on his victory. But Ferdinand proved weak from the start of the fight. During one-minute breaks, granted every ten or fifteen minutes, his owner refreshes his head and neck with a sponge dipped in water or sprays him with water.
But Ferdinand doesn't recover. He lowers his guard while his opponent proves stronger against his frailer frame. The other rooster pecks him repeatedly behind the neck. Spectators shout at Ferdinand's owner to give up and have his fighter removed.
"Ferdinand will be eaten with ginger by the kilo because he's finished his fighting career," the owner says with a laugh. "When a rooster admits defeat, it lowers its head, lies on the ground, abandons the fight flying in all directions, and sometimes dies right in the ring," explains Rasolofonarivo, known as Riri.
After just over an hour of fighting, Ferdinand is finally defeated. Too injured to raise his head and too weak to counter his opponent's attacks, he can no longer continue. "It's all this excitement you feel during cockfighting that makes me love attending this kind of leisure," says one spectator. He too has come to try his luck and awaits an opponent matching his rooster's size.
The owner of Betsingilo's cockfighting arena now plans to expand the facilities by adding VIP areas and a bar corner. "When we organize challenges, the stakes can reach ten million ariary or more. In certain competition formats, prizes can range from a zebu to two million ariary," he emphasizes. This expansion could happen soon. The venue owner receives 10% of the stakes wagered for each rooster.
Mirana Ihariliva