1. 1. The Big Five African Vintage Cows W e are losing the genetic resources locked up in the worlds domesticated livestock at an unprecedented rate. Of the 7,616 breeds of domestic livestock reported to FAO, 1,491, or 20 per cent, are classified as being at risk. Whats at stake in this livestock meltdown is nothing less than the animal basis for world food security. If we are to adapt food production systems to radically changing conditions in the coming decades, animal as well as plant genetic diversity will be critical resources for doing so. Traditional breeds offer diversity, which is the only base for future selection and adaptation. The on-going loss of our livestock genetic heritage is tantamount to losing a road map for survivalthe key to food security, environmental stability and improving the human condition. Here are five rare vintage cows of Africa that could be part of that road map. Better lives through livestock
2. 2. Sheko Only some 2,400 Sheko cattle remain alive. These relatively small animals, which are related to West Africas ancient NDama Red Fulani cattle, are found only in the remote corner of This large bony and typically southwestern Ethiopia, near red-coated animal has the Sudanese border, whereextremely long lyre-shaped the Sheko people bred horns. It is kept by pastoral them for millennia for theirFulani people, who herd the natural resistance to disease,animal across open semi- particularly tsetse-transmitted arid rangelands of the Sahel trypanosomosis. The Sheko that criss-cross five countries are believed to be the last of West and Central Africa. remnants of Africas original This is a dual-purpose milk humpless shorthorn cattle,and meat animal prized for which were probably first its ability to cope with heat, domesticated in this region ofticks, insect bites and great eastern Africa. water and feed scarcity.AnkoleThere are about 3.2 million Ankole cattle in five countries of East and Central Africa. The Ankole are drought-resistant and beloved by their keepers also for their uncommon gentleness, beauty, rich milk and tasty meat (believed also to be low in cholesterol). Rapidly expanding human populations, infrastructures and markets, however, are forcing more and more farmers to replace their indigenous African Ankole cattle with exotic breeds such as the black-and-white Holstein-Friesians dairy cows, which produce much more milk. At their current rates of decline, these hardy, graceful animals will disappear within the next 50 years.
3. 3. KuriThese hamitic longhorn humpless cattle inhabit the hot, humid shores and archipelagos of the Lake Chad Basin in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. They are large- bodied, typically white, and carry highly distinctive bulbous horns. The breed is adapted to the hot and humid climate and can survive long droughts. They are managed under traditional systems, feeding on grass on the small islands of Lake Chad. They are excellent swimmers and follow their herdsmen through the water as they travel from an island to another; their bulbous horns are considered useful in oating. The Kuri are highly fertile animals and excellent milk and meat producers. ILRI estimates the remaining population of Kuri, now threatened with extinction, to number only some 10,000 head. Improved BoranThe semi-nomadic Borana tribe in southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya herd the Boran, a medium- to large-sized and long-legged zebu animal that has considerable potential as a meat breed. On acquiring them early in this century, Kenyan ranchers judiciously crossed the original Ethiopian Boran with European breeds. This scheme to maximize the potential of an indigenous breed rather than attempt to replace it with exotic types has been highly successful. Today, the Improved Boran is one of Africas top beef breeds. Docile and well-adapted to hot, dry ranching conditions and to sparse pasture, these valuable animals have been exported from Africa to other continents, such as Australia, and from there to the USA