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The Butana is a vast, overgrazed plain and is a motherland for many nomadic tribes who move seasonally in search of water and better pasture. In the dry season, i.e. summer, low milk production, emaciation, depraved appetite and long anoestrus are dominant features in livestock which usually do not receive any mineral supplements but common salt. Information on mineral status in livestock in the eastern Sudan is lacking. This short communication describes the concentrations of minerals in vital organs and sera of camels, cattle, sheep and goats in the Butana area of the Sudan.The caudate lobe of the liver and the right kidney were collected from freshly killed animals at two slaughterhouses and the tissues analysed for copper, zinc, manganese and magnesium using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer (Pye Unicam 191 series). Samples were examined from 30 Butana cattle, 36 Desert sheep, 17 one-humped camels and four Nubian goats. The sera of 38 cattle, 94 sheep, 25 camels and five goats were examined for calcium, magnesium and copper by the methods described in the catalogue of the Unicam SP 90 atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Serum inorganic phosphate was determined by the method of Varley (1963). All samples were collected in the early summer.The results are summarised in Tables I and II. Tissues and sera of animals examined from the Butana area contain mean magnesium, zinc, calcium, inorganic phosphate and manganese levels that are in agreement with those normal levels quoted by previous workers. However, the concentrations of copper in liver and sera of some animals of all species were below normal; 25% of cattle but only 5% of camels had serum copper levels below 70 pLg/100 ml. Liver copper levels were below 25 ppm wet weight in 46% of cattle, 25% of sheep, 28% of camels and 80% of goats. Animals with low copper status suggest the likelihood of imbalances occurring in the area. Low levels of serum calcium and inorganic phosphate were seen in some sheep, camels and cattle. Serum calcium levels were below 8.5 mg/100 ml in 7% of cattle, 22% of sheep and 19% of camels while inorganic phosphate levels fell below 4 mg/100 ml in 11% of cattle and 29% of sheep. Such levels may suggest imbalances of these minerals especially during the late summer.

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