CASABLANCA, Morocco — (AP) — Flocks of sheep once quilted Morocco's mountain pastures, stretched across Algeria's vast plateaus and grazed along Tunisia's green coastline. But the cascading effects of climate change have sparked a region-wide shortage that is being felt acutely as Muslims throughout North Africa celebrate Eid al-Adha .

Each year, Muslims slaughter sheep to honor a passage of the Quran in which the prophet Ibrahim prepared to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God, who intervened and replaced the child with a sheep.

But this year, rising prices and falling supply are creating new challenges, breeders and potential buyers throughout the region say.

At a market in suburban Algiers last week, breeders explained to angry patrons that their prices had increased bec

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