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Black cattle in the cool pastoral highlands of Kenya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

Virginia A. Finch
Virginia A. Finch
Affiliation:
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 02138, U.S.A.
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Extract

On the cool semi-arid highlands of Kenya (1400–2500m) Boran cattle (Bos indicus) with dark coats predominate over white ones in pastoralist herds. Natural selection appears to favour dark-coated Boran cattle in these areas because significantly fewer black than white cattle die during drought and black cattle recover weight faster in wet seasons (Finch & Western, 1977). To investigate why cattle with dark coats are favoured, an experiment was designed to test whether the thermal effects of black coats in a cool climate interacted advantageously with the animal's metabolic economy. To date, interest in the metabolic significance of colour in cool climates has been confined largely to laboratory experiments (De Jong, 1976; Hamilton & Heppner, 1967; 0ritsland, 1971). The present experiment was different in that the thermal effect of coat colour on metabolic rate of cattle was investigated in the natural conditions in which they live.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 97 , Issue 3 , December 1981 , pp. 739 - 742
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

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References

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