This study aims to evaluate the current situation and diversity of indigenous cattle breeds in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). A survey was executed in five regions of the KSA. We recorded population sizes, phenotypes and rearing conditions. Taurine Bos taurus and zebu Bos indicus populations were found. The zebu cattle include two breeds; the Hassawi and the Janobi. The Hassawi breed was found in the eastern region and it is in decreasing number. It may become extinct soon in the absence of conservation plan. Janobi remains common with thousand animals in the south-western part of the country. Only one indigenous taurine cow, showing no phenotypic evidence of zebu introgression, was found in the Central region of KSA (Najd Plateau). This cow might be the last pure indigenous Saudi Arabia taurine animal and therefore, the breed is now close to extinction. We advocate the urgency to design conservation plan for the indigenous livestock of the KSA and to complement these with phenotypic as well as genotypic information.

In northern Patagonia (Argentina), local goats are reared under extensive production system with low inputs. Approximately 700,000 goats of local breeds (Criolla Neuquina, Colorado Pampeana and others) and 550,000 Angora, which produce cashmere and mohair are being raised by about 6000 small holders. Cashmere has a potential development of 15 tons. Due to considering the high variability in fibre traits, good response to selection is expected. Based on participatory processes, development of handicraft and industrial products are promoted. Mohair production is being improved. Argentina is the world's fourth largest producer of fibre (825 tons). Its current development is promoted by the “Mohair Program”, that based on organisation, use of appropriate technologies for shearing, fibre classification and breeding. The “Program” as a whole sells 10% of total country's production, with fair criteria to determine quality and trade values. Solutions to productive problems have been facilitated by strengthening the organisations and by the participation of producers. Extension and technology transfer contributed to improve quantity and quality of the traditional products. Moreover they focus positively on the traditional productive processes. In the cases: cashmere and mohair producers are strongly connected to land and goats, on which they are dependent. They perceive themselves as valued thus overcoming the restrictions of the system.

Le porc local d'origine ibérique a été introduit au Tchad en 1918, par des missionnaires en provenance du Cameroun. Ensuite en 1951, le porc limousin originaire de France fut importé par le service de l'élevage afin d'améliorer le format et le rendement du porc local. Après quatre années d'essais, ce programme a été abandonné au Nord, essentiellement pour des raisons religieuses. En revanche, dans la partie sud majoritairement non musulmane, la diffusion a enregistré un succès relatif jusqu'en 1958. Par la suite, des géniteurs de la race Yorkshire et Berkshire furent importés du Moyen Congo. Quelques élevages “semi-industriels”, installés dans les années 1950 et aux mains des expatriés, ont adopté ces races et ont contribué à l'exportation de viande dans la sous-région de l'Afrique Equatoriale française (AEF). Les traditions d'élevage des populations locales, l'appui des services agricoles et des sociétés de développement (Paysannats et Communautés villageoises) de la région ont contribué au succès relatif de cette diffusion. En outre, l'absence des relevés zootechniques précis, n'a pas permis d'apprécier les performances de ces races et des métis. L'alimentation, le gardiennage défectueux et le manque de déboucher pour la production paysanne ont été des obstacles majeurs au développement et à la vulgarisation de l'élevage porcin en milieu paysan.

The Andaman & Nicobar Islands are a group of 572 large and small islands & islets in the southeastern part of the Bay of Bengal. This preliminary study reports on husbandry practices and phenotypic characterization of indigenous Nicobari pig, in its home tract (Nicobar group of islands). A total of 377 families were surveyed in randomly selected villages on Car Nicobar, Nancowrie, Teressa, Katchal and Chowra islands. Results of the study revealed that Nicobari pigs were mostly semi feral in nature and reared under a free range system. Pigs were fed mainly with coconut and other locally available resources. The Nicobari pigs appeared short with long body. They showed high prolificacy with an average litter size of 8–10 numbers. These pigs were considered as a family asset among the Nicobari tribe. No commercial farms and slaughter was practiced by the tribes. It is concluded that the Nicobari pigs are considered as an indigenous pig breed/germplasm (Sus scrofa Nicobaricus) belonging to this island territory. Owing to its adaptation and performance under resource-driven island ecosystem, Nicobari pig warrants conservation and improvement. In addition, genetic characterization this pig using SNP would help to confirm their genetic distinctiveness and recognition as a new breed for conservation and sustainable utilization.

En la última década del siglo XV comenzó la colonización americana y terminó la conquista de las Islas Canarias. El carácter insular de paso obligatorio en las rutas colombinas hizo que ambos territorios se vincularan estrechamente y compartieran uno de los pilares básicos de la economía de aquella época: la ganadería. En este trabajo se presenta una revisión bibliográfica de carácter histórico y zootécnico de la cual se desprende que las razas caprinas de origen africano en Canarias no solo tuvieron una importante influencia en la constitución del mosaico racial americano sino que, además, comienzan a ser demandadas en esas áreas debido a sus características rústicas y productivas.

Friesian cattle, Chios sheep and Damascus goats have become dominant livestock breeds in Cyprus. Chios sheep were found to be superior to the indigenous Cyprus FatTailed and the imported Awassi with respect to precocity, fertility and prolificacy. Awassi performed very well with regard to milk yield and lamb viability. Crossbreds were more or less intermediate. Crosses of Chios with Cyprus Fat-Tailed have contributed substantially to the improvement of milk and meat production from sheep in the country.

Damascus goats are very good in litter size and milk yield; a specific strain of the indigenous goat also appears to be a valuable genotype.

Poultry biodiversity conservation is a great challenge for many countries. Within the last several years, the number of endangered local breeds has increased, leading to a considerable loss of genetic resources. A similar trend was observed among the poultry breeds, including chicken, local turkey and goose breeds/lines established in Bulgaria, part of which is definitely lost. Currently these breeds/lines are at risk and/or threatened with extinction. The information obtained by phenotypic characterization of these breeds is the first step for planning the management of poultry genetic resources through setting up improved selection schemes and conservation strategies. In this paper, we reviewed the current state of knowledge regarding the morphological and phenotypic diversity of local poultry breeds and some old productive poultry lines in Bulgaria.

Patterns of wool variations found in modern sheep breeds may shed some light on the history of circum-Mediterranean migrations, which at present are still largely unknown. In this study, the characteristics of wool from five different local European breeds were investigated. Wool samples were taken from the following sheep breeds: Aranese, Roussillon Red, Castillonnais, Levant Red and Majorcan Red. Specimens were collected from 88 animals in different herds for each breed. The following sheep fleece characteristics were investigated: length of long-coarse, short-fine and kemp (medullated) fibres; their proportion within the staple; yield after scouring with isoalcohol; and fibre diameter. The amount of short-fine fibres was lower in the Levant Red and Majorcan Red breeds, with an inversely proportional amount of kemp fibres. Clean yield with isoalcohol was about 80 percent in all these breeds. Fleece characteristics offer a glimpse of possible morphologic relationships between the Levant Red and Majorcan Red that moreover exhibit a similarity in colour and a geographical proximity. Because very little is still known about the nature of the patterns of the fleece of Atlantic West and North African sheep, the importance of the African influence on existing European Mediterranean red sheep breeds remains to be clarified. A plausible hypothesis is that different influences would have left different traces, with a lesser impact on Pyrenean breeds.

The study was conducted in Gamo Goffa Zone of Southern Ethiopia to characterize traditional cattle breeding practices and cattle trait preferences of the Gamo Highland and Gamo Lowland cattle types. Data collected through group discussions and individual interviews were synthesized and summarized using descriptive statistics. Indigenous cattle in the study area provide multiple functions, are well adapted to their production environments, and managed under traditional and subsistent modes of production. Farmers' cattle trait preferences slightly differ across highland and lowland sites. Whereas lowland farmers prefer carcass yield and traction capacity, cattle farmers in highland areas give more weight to adaptation, milk production and manure contributions. Common breeding system in all sites was pure breeding, although very few farmers residing in mid and highland areas exercise crossbreeding with introduced Holstein Friesian bulls for dairy improvement. The main reported selection criteria of farmers for breeding their animals were body size and conformation, milk production, fertility and breeding history of animals. Cattle breeding and management practices of the study area are traditional and low input.

There is a wide international consensus that there is an urgent need to compile national inventories of animal genetic resources, supported by periodic monitoring of trends and threats, to underpin their effective management. This paper gives an overview of how to set about this task, primarily through national strategies but also through ad hoc surveys. It is important to establish stakeholder involvement at an early stage of setting up the national strategy so that the surveys can be made more effective and the emergent actions can be more readily implemented. There are a wide variety of tools available for surveying and monitoring, ranging from mapping expeditions to household surveys and censuses, encompassing methods associated with rapid rural appraisals. Tools have different strengths and weaknesses and their relative cost effectiveness will depend on objectives. Performing a baseline survey is a key step because it serves as a reference point for future monitoring; however, to be cost effective, more rudimentary surveys may be needed beforehand to establish reliable design parameters. Calibration of one method to another is an important task when several methods are being used for monitoring. Planning and design, communication, sensitive field work, data management and an analysis appropriate to the objectives are all necessary elements of a successful survey.

Pedigree and population viability analyses of a conservation herd of Moura breed from Embrapa Swine and Poultry were carried out. ENDOG software was used for pedigree analysis and VORTEX for population viability analysis. The data were obtained with the curator of the herd and a total of 411 animals born between the years of 1999 and 2011 for the analysis with ENDOG. The input data in VORTEX were obtained from a questionnaire answered by the curator of the herd. The Inbreeding Coefficient (F) was 0.06 percent, the average effective population size (Ne) was 30 animals with an average generation interval of 3.48 years. The extinction probability was 0 percent for a simulation period of 100 years and 3 percent for a period of 500 years. The determinant parameters for the viability of this herd were the entry of animals and prolificacy of the breed. Although the study did not indicate immediate risk of extinction of this herd, it should be constantly monitored with controlled population parameters to prevent the extinction of this last herd of Moura pig breed.

The Krishna Valley breed of cattle is a draught breed able to withstand extremely hot, humid climatic conditions and which has the capacity to undertake heavy work in the black cotton soil in the valleys of the Krishna river in India. Their home tract is restricted to a few taluks (divisions within a district) of the northern parts of Karnataka. The distinguishing morphological features of the breed are the presence of a black-coloured muzzle and black shades dispersed over the body with the lower half of the scrotum also being black in colour. The average values for height, body length and chest girth are 116.4±1.2, 128.4±2.0 and 144.7±2.0 cm in cows; and 150.5±0.5, 146.0±3.0 and 191.0±1.0 cm in bullocks, respectively. The cytogenetic investigation revealed the normal characteristics of cattle chromosomes (2n=60). The microsatellite alleles occurred at frequencies of 0.0208 (ILSTS005) to 0.7604 (ETH152) with the polymorphism information content (PIC) values in the range of 0.3856 (ETH152) to 0. 7725 (ILSTS034). The breed has a relatively long productive life as the number of calvings can go up to twelve. As the number of animals of this breed remaining is only in the order of a few hundred, conservation measures are to be taken to avoid the extinction of this valuable germplasm.

The Tswana cattle breed is indigenous to Botswana. Its popularity and numbers in the national herd is declining due to crossbreeding. This paper presents results of work done so far to characterise the breed for milk and beef production and describes the current breed conservation program. Suggestions on more characterisation work and improvement on the conservation program are given.

Este artículo reseña el origen del ganado criollo colombiano Romosinuano (Romo), el Valle del río Sinú, Costa Norte de Colombia. También, se describen las características zootécnicas de la raza, sus cualidades y aptitudes productivas como raza pura y en cruzamientos. Se presentan los resultados de heterosis, individual y materna, de características de crecimiento pre y posdestete, el cálculo de producción de carne al destete por vaca expuesta a toro en el hato, el peso presacrificio y el rendimiento en canal del Romo puro y sus cruces con Cebú (Brahman) y Charolais.

Observations were recorded on morphological characteristics, body weights and body measurements of 344 Malpura sheep belonging to nine age groups during a survey conducted in 18 randomly selected villages of three blocks of the Chittorgarh district of Rajastha. The body weights at birth, 1, 3, 6 and 9 months and adult weight averaged 3.3, 6.7±0.88, 12.9±0.71, 16.4±0.71, 21.0±1.00 and 31.4 kg respectively. Height, body length, chest girth, paunch girth, face length, face width, tail length and ear length of adult Malpura sheep averaged 63.6, 66.8, 77.1, 80.9, 20.7, 9.8, 30.3 and 6.3 cm respectively. Sex of the animal had significant effect on weight, height, body length and chest girth at 8 teeth stage. Phenotypic correlations of body weight with height, chest girth and paunch girth ranged from 0.76±0.04 to 0.88±0.03 and regression of weight on these body measurements ranged from 0.63±0.02 to 0.98±0.05.

The Garole is a prolific breed of sheep. High prolificacy in sheep carrying the Booroola gene (FecB) is the result of a mutation in bone morphogenetic protein receptor-IB (BMPR-IB) (Wilson et al., 2001a,b) which had previously been identified in Garole sheep from the Sunderban region of West Bengal (Davis et al., 2002) . There is evidence that the breed has originated from the sheep brought by the Tibetan traders and traded in the plains of Bengal during the seventeenth till the nineteenth century. The present study was carried out to remap the distribution of the Garole sheep within the state of West Bengal (India) using the presence of the BMPR-IB mutation in the sheep flocks reared at different locations within the state of West Bengal. The breeding tract of Garole sheep was initially thought to be in the districts of 24 Parganas, South and North alone. However, the results from the present study indicate that the sheep is also reared in the district of Midnapur (East), besides in Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts situated in northern parts of the state. The results of the present study indicate that the breeding tract of Garole sheep extends up to Jalpaiguri and CoochBehar districts of West Bengal at 26°16′ and 27°0′ North latitude and 88°4′ and 89°53′ East longitude. This study also indicates that the ancestors of the Garole sheep have migrated from China/Tibet, during the trading between West Bengal and Bangladesh during the seventeenth century till the early-twentieth century.

The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA), through the National Research Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (CENARGEN), created the National Research Programme for Genetic Resources in 1974, but at that time only plant resources were included. A few years ago, the need for conservation of animal genetic resources in Brazil became clear, and the lack of necessary documentation and evaluation was recognized. Finally, in 1981, CENARGEN decided to include animal genetic resources in its Research Programme. In the case ofcattle, actions are being taken to save the “Criollo” before it is too late as it is rapidly disappearing by indiscriminate crossbreeding. There is already considerable information on the “'local” livestock breeds, strains and varieties in Brazil. A number of these breeds, strains or varieties that are in danger of extinction have been identified, and are being documented and specifically evaluated, particularly to determine if they possess any unique or special inherited characteristic that would warrant their conservation. Until such evaluation is completed, steps are being taken to ensure preservation of these populations. More recently, the programme ineluded other species such as: buffaloes, pigs, sheep, goats, horses and donkeys.

Le cheptel togolais se compose de bovins, de petits ruminants, de porcins et de volailles. Les deux régions septentrionales et la région centrale du pays abritent plus de la moitié du cheptel bovin. La population de petits ruminants est composée essentiellement d'ovins et de caprins; ces derniers sont principalement concentrés dans les deux régions méridionales où leur viande est plus appréciée que celle des ovins. Les élevages traditionnels de porcins sont répartis dans tout le pays, mais sont plus concentré s dans la région Maritime. La race locale prédomine car l'introduction des races améliorées a été faite sur une échelle très limitée. L'élevage de volailles de races locales est aussi très répandu, mais la densité rapportée au nombre de ménages agricoles est plus élevée dans le nord que dans le sud du pays.

El Banco de Germoplasma ovino está conformado por ocho núcleos raciales organizados en un sistema de apareamiento circular cíclico para evitar la pérdida de la variabilidad genética. En este trabajo se encontró una tasa de incremento de consanguinidad por generación que varía entre 1,06 – 3,23% para los cuatro años previos a la formación del Banco y una tasa que varía entre 0,68 y 1,15% para los siguientes 5 años, lo que representa una reducción de 27,07 – 68,9% en el incremento de consanguinidad debido a la estructura de los apareamientos. Igualmente se muestra el comportamiento reproductivo por grupo racial, mostrando las bondades de la raza Criolla (96% de natalidad, 117% de prolificidad), dada su adaptación al sistema de producción de trópico alto. En cuanto al comportamiento productivo se determinó el efecto de raza, sexo y año sobre el crecimiento, encontrando a la raza Hampshire, Cheviot y Romney con los mayores pesos al nacimiento, destete y año. Finalmente se realizó una caracterización morfométrica y determinación de índices de similaridad entre las ocho razas de ovinos, utilizando parámetros de distribución continua. Las razas Merino y Corriedale presentaron los mayores índices de similaridad, al igual que las razas Criolla y Mora.