Begayt
Country of originEthiopia
DistributionWestern Tigray
UseDraught, milk, meat (in that order)
Traits
Coatblack and white stained
Horn statusmedium
  • Cattle
  • Bos (primigenius) indicus

Begayt is an Ethiopian breed of cattle.[1][2] Currently there are ongoing cross-breeding programmes with Arado cattle, in an attempt to increase the milk production of the latter.

Origin of the cattle breed

Ethiopia has been at a crossroads for cattle immigration to Africa[1][3] due to

  • proximity to the geographical entry of Indian and Arabian zebu
  • proximity to Near-Eastern and European taurine
  • introgression with West African taurine due to pastoralism

Furthermore, the diverse agro-ecology led to diverse farming systems which, in turn, made Ethiopia a centre of secondary diversification[1] for livestock :

  • The Sanga cattle originated in Ethiopia. They are a major bovine group in Africa – a cross-breeding of local long-horned taurines and Arabian zebus[3]
  • The Begayt are one of the Zenga (Zebu-Sanga) breeds, which resulted from a second introduction and crossing with Indian zebu[3]

Threats on the cattle breed

  • socio-political stresses: civil wars and recent urbanisation
  • panzootic stresses: cattle plague[4]
  • environmental stresses drought and destruction of ecosystems[5]
  • extensive cross-breeding with Arado

References

  1. 1 2 3 Merha Zerabruk, and colleagues (2011). "Genetic diversity and admixture of indigenous cattle from North Ethiopia: implications of historical introgressions in the gateway region to Africa". Animal Genetics. 43 (3): 257–266. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2052.2011.02245.x. PMID 22486496.
  2. ↑ Cattle breeds, milk production, and transhumance in Dogu'a Tembien. In: Geotrekking in Ethiopia's tropical mountains, Chapter 28. Cham: SpringerNature. 2019. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_28. S2CID 199323600.
  3. 1 2 3 Hanotte, O. and colleagues (2002). "African pastoralism: genetic imprints of origins and migrations". Science. 296 (5566): 336–339. Bibcode:2002Sci...296..336H. doi:10.1126/science.1069878. PMID 11951043. S2CID 30291909.
  4. ↑ Pankhurst, R (1985). The history of famine and epidemics in Ethiopia prior to the twentieth century. Addis Ababa: Relief and Rehabilitation Commission.
  5. ↑ Van Cappellen, H (2016). The ox-plow complex on the edge: an ethnographic inquiry into social change and cross-breed dairy farming in Tigray, Ethiopia [MSc Thesis]. KU Leuven, Belgium.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.