The aim of the project is to seek new and more reliable methodologies to survey morphological parameters in domestic animals. The study describes the traditional tools adopted until today in the field of Zoometry and reports the methods independently set up by different research units, now combined into a single one. The approach was different in different applications but based on the same basic steps: video or photo shooting, computerised scanner image processing, achievement of precise body measurements and evaluation of the animals. The accuracy of the system was compared with the body measurements obtained manually and the results gave maximum difference of 1.1%. When warm carcass percentage was estimated by body measurements the observed error was 2.5%. The advantages of these new techniques are considerable, in terms of both accuracy of measurements and capability to survey new morphological parameters such as angles and surfaces, which are presently not measurable. The potentialities of the methodologies discussed allow more exact criteria of evaluation for the domestic and wild animals also when they are in natural living conditions. Moreover, the way is now opened to an improvement of the image acquisition techniques to calculate a tridimensional matrix.

The paper analyses the importance of breed conservation in South Africa by means of added value through a number of species. This principle was applied to some of Southern Africa populations: Nguni cattle, indigenous pigs, indigenous sheep landraces including fat-tails (Pedi, Damara, Zulu, Afrikaner) and fat-rumped breeds (Persian) as well as the improved Boer goat. The latter is an example of what can be achieved by selecting an indigenous breed for a specific purpose.

For each breed, possible alternative uses are explained by analysing their characters. For the Nguni cattle (very well adapted to local conditions) a premium is paid for hides with minimal tick damage as these are used for car upholstery, an important added value. Beef quality and easy calving are also relevant factors that are important when crossing the Nguni with European breeds.

Indigenous sheep landraces are often used to develop hardy composites and this helps their conservation, while the Boer goat is in demand in many countries for meat-production and has been exported world-wide; this is probably the only selected meat-goat in the world.

Indigenous pig breeds are capable of generating a good income and are satisfactory alternatives to modern breeds.

This study was carried out to investigate the fertility, milk production and body weight of ewes and the survival and growth characteristics of lambs of the indigenous Imroz and Kivircik sheep breeds. The Imroz and Kivircik sheep breeds are included among the genetic resources in the project for the conservation of the indigenous breeds in Turkey.

Conception rates for Imroz and Kivircik ewes were 57.6% and 81.7% respectively, litter sizes were 1.2 and 1.2 respectively, milk yields were 89 kg and 62 kg respectively and average live weights (2–7 years of age) were 43 kg and 55 kg, respectively. Imroz and Kivircik lambs had survival rates at weaning (90th day) of 98% and 96%, birth weights of 3.3 kg and 4.1 kg and weaning weights of 19.8 kg and 28.0 kg, respectively.

The results showed that the Kivircik sheep were heavier and the lambs had a better growth rate until weaning than the Imroz breed. However, the milk production of the Imroz ewes was higher than that of Kivircik. The lambs of both breeds had a satisfactory survival and growth rates until weaning and these results might be regarded as a desired adaptation of the Imroz and Kivircik lambs to the environmental conditions of the Marmara Region.

The goal of this study was to characterize the Hamra goat population and to determine if Hamra goats of Beni Arouss and Rommani regions belong to the same population. Eleven morphometric traits of 157 Hamra animals (94 from Beni Arouss and 63 from Rommani) were used for this study. Overall, heart girth, body length, height at withers (HaW), height at rump (HS), chest depth (ChD), pelvis width (PW), chest width (CW), cannon circumference, head length (HeL), head width (HeW) and horn length (HL) of Hamra goats averaged 81.3, 61.5, 64.8, 65.3, 40.9, 19.3, 20.2, 9.67, 28.0, 26.3 and 23.4 cm, respectively. The effect of region was significant only on HaW, PW, HeL, HeW and HL, indicating certain homogeneity among goats of the two regions. Moreover, the inter region variance component ranged from 0 percent (absence of variability) for HS, CW, ChD and ChD to 18.5 percent for HeL, suggesting that the variability of body measurements between Beni Arouss and Rommani regions is very low. The factor analysis revealed four factors, which accounted for 73.5 percent of the total variance. The most discriminant variables between the two populations were HeL, HeW, PW and CW. The Mahalanobis distance between the two populations was 1.197, suggesting that there was genetic exchange between the two populations. The discriminant analysis showed that 80.9 percent of Rommani and 50.0 percent of Beni Arouss individuals were classified into their respective population. Results obtained will help in developing improvement and preservation strategies for the Hamra goat population.

People in the villages situated on the bank of the famous salt lake Chilika in Orissa rear buffaloes with almost zero input. These animals, endowed with the special quality of entering deep into the lake and feeding on the vegetation that grows there, help to maintain the natural ecosystem and provide good earnings for the rural people. This biodiversity in buffalo germplasm needs to be preserved. The mean body length, girth, height at withers and weight were 122.3±0.2 cm, 169.7±0.3 cm, 123.9±2.7 cm and 320.0±0.7 kg, respectively. The mean age at first calving was 1 331.4±6.8 days. The average of the first two calving intervals was 431.7±3.6 days. The average daily milk yield of the first three lactations and lactation length was 2.6±0.01 kg and 238.7±2.1 days, respectively. Most of the economic traits had high heritability. The temperature of the habitat ranges approximately between 15°C in winter to 40°C in summer.

This paper describes the origin of the Colombian Creole breeds, in particular the formation of one of these, the Horned Coastal Creole (CCC) cattle. It outlines the ecological environment where it has flourished, and the history of the foundation of the conservation herd that the Colombian government has maintained since 1936 in one of its research stations, Turipaná, located at the town of Cereté in Córdoba department. Additionally we detail the breed's principal external, physiological and genetic characteristics, with special emphasis on the research results as regards growth and milk production traits. We conclude that the CCC, because of its adaptation to the humid tropic environment, is an important genetic resource to produce in a sustainable, competitive and ‘green’ way, especially in extensive systems with low external inputs.

Sustainable use of animal genetic resources for agriculture and food production is proposed as the best strategy for maintaining their diversity. Achievement of sustainable use would continue to support livelihoods and minimize the long-term risk for survival of animal populations. The concept of sustainable use has economic, environmental and socio-cultural dimensions. Sustainable use of animal genetic resources also contributes to food security, rural development, increasing employment opportunities and improving standards of living of keepers of breeds. Supporting the rearing of breeds through better infrastructure, services, animal health care, marketing opportunities and other interventions would make a significant contribution to the sustainable use of animal genetic resources.

Sustainable use envisages the use and improvement of breeds that possess high levels of adaptive fitness to the prevailing environment. It also encompasses the deployment of sound genetic principles for sustainable development of the breeds and the sustainable intensification of the production systems themselves. Sustainable use and genetic improvement rely on access to a wide pool of genetic resources.

Genetic improvement programmes need to be considered in terms of national agriculture and livestock development objectives, suitability to local conditions and livelihood security as well as environmental sustainability. Genetic improvement can involve choice of appropriate breeds, choice of a suitable pure breeding or crossbreeding system and application of within-breed genetic improvement. The choice of appropriate breeds and crossbreeding systems in developed countries has been a major contributor to the large increases in productivity, and has benefited greatly from the fact that developed country animal genetic resources are well characterized and relatively freely exchanged. Where proper steps have been followed by careful assessment of demand, execution, delivery, impact and cost-benefit analyses, successful within-breed improvement has been realized within indigenous populations in developing countries. Breeding objectives and programmes for subsistence oriented and pastoralist systems are likely to be entirely different from conventional programmes. Crossbreeding has been most successful where it is followed by a rigorous selection programme involving livestock owners' participation and substantial public sector investment in the form of technical support. In any genetic improvement programme, inbreeding needs to be monitored and controlled.

Within-breed genetic improvement is normal practice in the developed world, and has become a highly technical enterprise, involving a range of reproduction, recording, computing and genomic technologies. Emerging genomic technologies promise the ability to identify better, use and improve developing world animal genetic resources in the foreseeable future. Useful systems can, however, be established without the need for application of advanced technology or processes.

The objective of this study was a morphological characterization of five Moroccan sheep breeds (Béni Guil, Boujaâd, D'man, Sardi and Timahdite) to assess between- and within-breed variability using multivariate analyses. Fourteen morphological measurements were collected on 876 adult animals of both sexes in 98 different flocks located in 22 geographic localities of five breeds. The multiple analysis of variance revealed that significant morphological differences existed between breeds. The overall proportion of total variance due to between-breed component was 28.3 percent. The factor analysis revealed three factors accounting for 50.1, 11.8 and 7.54 percent of total variance. The first factor had high loadings for variables relating to body size, whilst the second factor had high association with traits reflecting tail length and ear size. The third factor had high loadings for wool trait. The squared Mahalanobis distance between the five sheep breeds were highly significant (P < 0.001). The largest morphological divergence was shown between Béni Guil and Sardi breeds (23.5) and the smallest one was between Boujaâd and Sardi breeds (3.54). The discriminant functions clearly discriminated and assigned 94.4 percent of Béni Guil, 79.7 of Boujaâd, 88.5 percent of D'man, 86.7 of Sardi and 80.1 percent of Timahdite sheep into their breed of origin. Overall morphological differences observed within-breeds were due for 18.1 percent to geographic locality and for 20.7 percent to flock management. It was concluded that the information reported in this study will be the basis for the establishment of characterization and selection strategies for Moroccan sheep.

The presence and role of indigenous turkeys in Oaxaca and Quintana Roo, Mexico, were investigated by means of on-site assessment and an orally administered questionnaire. Questions included breed characteristics, uses, management conditions, advantages and limitations of the breed. An indigenous breed of turkey in Oaxaca and Quintana Roo was described. A strong interest in the raising and commerce of turkeys in Oaxaca was noted, however in Quintana Roo substantial reductions in numbers of turkeys have occurred over the last two decades. Mortalities of turkey poults ranging from 50–100% due to a disease with symptoms compatible with Histomonas meleagridis infection were reported. This appears to be the most significant limiting factor to raising turkeys in a back-yard type of system in Oaxaca and Quintana Roo. Raising turkeys separately from chickens is probably the most effective strategy for decreasing indigenous turkey poult mortality of this type.

Cette étude, qui vise à étudier les caractéristiques morphobiométriques de la poule du Sénégal, a porté sur 1 598 sujets échantillonnés dans deux zones agro-écologiques différentes: la zone de Dahra au centre du Sénégal et la zone de Kolda située en Casamance au sud du pays.

Chaque sujet a fait l'objet d'une description par observation directe et d'une pesée. La longueur du tarse a également été objet d'une mesure.

La coloration du plumage de la poule Sénégalaise est très variée mais les principales dominantes sont le fauve (13,82%), le blanc (12,39%), le mille-fleurs (8,38%), le blanc et fauve (8,38%) et le fauve hermine (7,85%). Les phénotypes“frisé“et“cou nu“représentent respectivement 0,9% et 1,94% de la population, ce qui correspond aux fréquences 0,5% du gène frisé (F) et 1% du gène cou nu (Na). La peau et les pattes sont surtout blanches mais elles peuvent aussi être jaunes, roses ou bleu acier (pattes).

Le poids moyen des sujets est de 1,02±0,337 kg pour une longueur du tarse de 9,21 cm. Le nombre d'oeufs pondus par poule est de 12,4. Ce sont des oeufs en majorité (73%) blancs qui pèsent en moyenne 31,7±3,9 g.

The effect of human intervention on the structure of locally adapted breeds in America is analyzed using the case of a rural community in Patagonia (Argentina) and its goats. The Neuquen Criollo Goat is analyzed focusing on the artificial selection practiced by the local rural community and its effects on the current type's distribution. Goatherd preferences in the selection of replacements were studied by means of a survey (n= 242). The distribution of 634 females of various types was recorded and compared with selection criteria through multivariate techniques. Producers showed clear grounds for the selection of their animals, size, conformation, hair type and coat color being the criteria most frequently cited. Most producers (84%) used at least two criteria to choose their replacements. Differences of criteria and phenotypes between areas were significant, as was the correlation between Chi-squared distances matrix on both data sets (r=0.78), showing the influence of human intervention on the breed's shape. Directional selection, practiced by rural communities in marginal areas, was the main factor of microevolution in this Criollo goat population, and probably in other Criollo populations in America.

Con este artículo se trata de resaltar aspectos zootécnicos y económicos de la raza Sanmartinera y su utilización en forma racional y sostenible, como fuente genética para el desarrollo eficiente de la ganadería Orinoquense.

Se describen sus cualidades y aptitudes productivas, como raza pura y en cruces con Cebú (Brahman), Santa Gertrudis y Charoláis; igualmente, los resultados comparativos de peso presacrificio y rendimiento en canal de cruces F ½ SM x ½ Cebú y Cebú puro.

Pashmina, internationally known as “cashmere”, a fine luxury fibre, is being produced from Changthangi goats bred in the Ladakh region of India. The Leh district of Greater Ladakh produces around 30 000 kg of pashmina fibre which is harvested from about 0.15 million Changthangi goats reared by the Changpa nomads in Changthang region of Greater Ladakh. Changthangi goats are sometimes also called Changra goats. Pashmina producing goats are of great importance for revitalising the economy of the poverty stricken region of Changthang and the Leh district of Ladakh. The information on Changthangi goats was collected from both small and large-scale farmers in Ladakh, and 337 animals were included in the study.

The body colour of Changthangi goats varies from white to light brown and nearly whole body is covered with pashmina and long hairs. The average birth weights of male and female kids were estimated as 2.11 ± 0.3 and 2.06 ± 0.2 kg, respectively while weight at 300 days was found to be 20.0 ± 2.1 and 18.7 ± 1.9 kg in male and females respectively.

The pashmina yields of bucks, does, male hoggets and female hoggets were estimated as 402 ± 19 g, 248 ± 14 g, 255 ± 12 and 280 ± 16 g, respectively. The length of pashmina fibre was found to be 4.25 ± 1.2 cm in males and 4.02 ± 1.5 cm in females while fibre diameter in male and female goats was estimated as 12.9 ± 2.6 μ and 13.0 ± 3.0 μ, respectively.

The twining rate was found to be very low, nearly 0.3%. A preliminary study at DNA level with PCR-RFLP indicated monomorphism at the growth hormone gene. The occurrence of disease was quite low although some genetic deformities in this breed were not uncommon.

There are mainly three locally developed meat type goat breeds in South Africa namely the South African Boer goat, the Savanna and the Kalahari Red. In order to maintain the characteristics of these breeds and to ensure that their unique traits are not lost through continuous selection and cross-breeding, it has become important to revisit current breed standards and introduce genetic characterization to obtain genetic diversity parameters. Both the Boer goat and Savanna breeds have established breeders associations while a breeders club was founded for the Kalahari Red goats. These associations have set breed standards and the breeds' morphometric traits have recently been described. The differences in morphometric traits among the breeds are fairly insignificant. Preliminary data on genetic diversity report heterozygosity values above 50% for each of the three breeds and they can be distinguished as separate breeds based on genotyping results with eighteen ISAG recommended microsatellite markers. There is however a need for a genetic characterization of both meat type and indigenous goats to ensure sufficient diversity within the breeds for long term conservation of the unique genetic resource.

Ganjam is an important sheep breed in the Orissa State in the eastern region of India. They are reared mainly for meat. The present study was conducted to characterize the Ganjam breed both phenotypically and genotypically at the DNA level using microsatellite markers. A survey was conducted in the breeding tract to study the habitat, body biometry, management practices and reproductive and productive performance of Ganjam sheep. A total of 604 animals were studied for morphological characteristics. The animals are medium sized with hairy fleece. Their coat colour varies from brown to dark tan. The average flock size is 35. Measurements were recorded for body weight, body length, height at withers, chest girth, ear length and horn length in 366 adult animals. A set of 25 microsatellite markers was used to assess the genetic variability in 50 DNA samples extracted from randomly collected blood samples of unrelated Ganjam sheep across their breeding tract. A total of 137 alleles were identified across the 25 markers. The allele diversity (5.48), mean observed heterozygosity (0.623) and gene diversity (0.685) estimates elucidated substantial genetic diversity within the Ganjam breed. The Mode Shift Test implied that a reduction in the effective population size or a recent genetic bottleneck was very unlikely in this indigenous breed of sheep. The within population inbreeding estimate values for the investigated population (0.087) showed a low rate of inbreeding.

India is a rich repository of goat genetic resources having 23 well-recognized goat breeds. These breeds have evolved through natural selection and selective breeding by rearers for adaptation to specific agro-ecological conditions. As the indigenous goat breeds of India display great variation in adaptability, productivity, feed utilization, disease resistance, etc. so conservation for unique characteristics of indigenous breeds are of great importance. The recognized breeds of Indian goat population are facing a greater threat due to lack of enforcement of proper breeding policy, inadequate number of breeding bucks, indiscriminate crossbreeding and intermixing among breeds with local animals etc. Considering the current population size, declining rate of population, loss of habitat and introduction of other breeds in the area, the threatened goat breeds are Jamunapari, Beetal, Jakhrana and Surti in the northwestern region, Sangamneri, Osmanabadi, Malabari and Attappady Black in the southern region, Ganjam in the eastern region, and Chegu and Changthangi in the temperate Himalayan region. Furthermore, the positions of several breeds are more or less vulnerable in their breeding tracts. Now, efforts have been made to conserve the indigenous goat breeds for their unique characteristics in their home tracts through in-situ and ex-situ conservation in different agroclimatic regions of India.

Livestock husbandry plays an important role in the rural economy of the country in a tangible or intangible way. The livestock are selected for their functional efficiency and also for their adaptability to the particular agro climate. The study was conducted at two selected woredas (districts) of Southern Ethiopia and was based on individual interviews; focus group discussion and questioner survey. The results indicated that livestock are selected based on some traditional methods by the elders of the society. The respondents indicated that they maintained informal pedigree for cattle and horses based on their dam line, while phenotype of an animal viz. presence or absence of hair whorl, udder and teat length, length of the legs, body length played an important role in selecting the bovines. Tail type, presence of wattles, leg length and coat colour were considered while selecting the small ruminants. Chickens with single comb are preferred over the other types. Coat colour played an important role in selection for functional efficiency of cattle. The study indicated that most of these selection attributes had correlation with the production and reproduction efficiency of the livestock as was explained by several authors. It is suggested that further studies should be carried out to validate the selection methods and incorporate them in region-wise livestock selection strategies.

This study was carried out on 2 309 households in 60 villages with the objective of documenting the performance of Mecheri sheep in their native environment. The study revealed that Mecheri sheep were distributed in Salem, Erode, Karur, Namakkal and parts of Dharmapuri districts of Tamil Nadu. This tract lies in the north-western agro-climatic zone of Tamil Nadu and the climate is generally hot, semi-arid and tropical in nature.

The average flock size of Mecheri sheep was 24, of which, there were 1 ram, 17 ewes and 6 lambs. Mecheri sheep of medium size with a compact body and covered with short hairs, which are not shorn. They are light brown in colour. Their profile reveals a slightly Roman nose. Both males and females are polled. The pooled means for height at withers, chest girth and body length at above 24 months of age were 67±0.4, 74±0.4 and 66±0.4 cm, respectively. The body weight of the animals at birth 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of age was 2.82±0.01, 10.9±0.1, 15.6±0.1, 17.6±0.2 and 21.1±0.1, kg respectively. The dressing percentage of males and females was 54.4±0.4 and 51.8±0.5, respectively. Average ages at first oestrus, mating and lambing were 12.1±0.1, 12.4±0.1 and 17.4±0.1 months, respectively. The average lambing interval was 226±0.7 days and the average litter size was one.

Brazil has various species of domestic animals which developed from breeds brought by the Portuguese settlers soon after the discovery. Over the last five centuries, these breeds have been submitted to natural selection in particular environments and therefore today, they present characteristics adapted to the specific environmental conditions. From the beginning of this century, some exotic breeds, selected in temperate regions, have begun to be imported. Although more productive, these breeds lack adaptation traits, such as resistance to disease and parasites found in breeds considered to be“native” but even so, little by little, they have substituted the native breeds to such an extent that the latter are, today, in danger of extinction. To avoid the loss of this important genetic material, Brazil created an Animal Genetics Resource Conservation Programme, coordinated by the National Research Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (Cenargen) of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMPRAPA). The conservation has been carried out by various Research Centres of EMPRAPA, Universities, State Research Corporations, as well as by private farmers, with a single coordinator at national level, Cenargen. The conservation is being carried out through Conservation Nuclei, situated in the habitats where the animals have been subjected to natural selection (in situ), and by the storage of semen and embryos (ex situ). The recently created Animal Genetics Laboratory of Cenargen allowed genetic characterisation studies on cattle and horse breeds to begin, and, in the near future, work with asses, buffalo and sheep will be conducted‥ From the results of this research it will be possible to compare the native breeds and estimate genetic distances between them. The harmonisation of chosen micro-satellites with those which have been used in other Latin America and Iberian Peninsula countries will be extremely useful for comparative studies and will allow future exchange of germplasm between countries.

The Australasian Merino population has declined significantly over the last 15 years in response to a decline in the price of apparel wool, both in absolute terms and relative to the price of sheep meat. Over the same period, a national genetic evaluation system based on BLUP methods has been introduced, that is achieving steady growth in adoption by breeders. Genetic parameter estimates for the population provide evidence for considerable genetic diversity for all recorded traits, providing ample opportunity for genetic improvement. More recently, there is considerable evidence for increasingly rapid progress, both in fleece traits and a range of meat production and adaptation traits. The Merino population is evolving towards two broad types – one focused on high quality apparel wools finer than 19 µm and used in enterprises with a wool/meat income ratio of about 3:1, and the other a more dual-purpose animal producing 19–21 µm wool and an enterprise wool/meat income ratio between 1.5:1 and 1:1. Underlying these trends is a growing focus on adaptation traits including worm resistance; reduced need for veterinary interventions; and increased early growth, fertility and mothering ability. Together these trends point to increasingly ‘easy-care’ sheep and exploitation of the available genetic diversity to rapidly increase profitability.