The study evaluated the small farmers' practices implemented by cattle breeders to ensure the conservation of the Baoulé breed. The study involved 52% of the 636 known producers from the 54 targeted villages, which constitute 7% of the total villages of the Poni and Noumbiel provinces in Burkina Faso. The transverse and retrospective survey was carried out and was combined with direct observation. The modalities of the frequencies of various actions and the coefficients that affected them were transformed into quantitative variables. Adhesion to a possible project of conservation, participation in farmers’ groups and other associations and schooling induce positive acts of conduct, health care and social activities for conservation but have a negative effect on reproduction (cross breeding). Membership of the Lobi ethnic group contributes to the conservation of Baoulé cattle. The possession of draught animals promotes the activities of conduct, management, health care and social activities that are protective but active management of reproduction does not contribute to conservation. Moreover, the possession of an exclusive herd of Baoulé cattle, the castration of males from other cattle breeds, the taking of individual decisions of management and the membership of Lobi ethnic group are all favourable to the conservation of Baoulé cattle. The positive total assessment of the practices implemented in the Lobi region of Burkina Faso shows the limited development of Baoulé cattle crossbreeding. The quantitative variables obtained by transformation constitute a new approach, making it possible to quantify the practices of conservation of the animal breeds in their natural environment (in situ).

An exploratory field survey was conducted in Horro Guduru Wollega Zone, Ethiopia, to phenotypically characterize indigenous goats. Eight qualitative and fifteen quantitative traits from 612 goats were considered. All data were analysed using SAS 9.2, version 2008. The dominant coat colour types in Guduru district were black (35.29 percent), whereas in Amuru district, the dominant coat colour types were white and brown with brown dominant (18.63 percent) and brown (17.65 percent). In Horro district, the dominant coat colour types were grey (21.57 percent) and black and white with black dominant (15.69 percent). Morphometric measurements (body weight (BW), heart girth and body length) indicated that the Amuru and Horro goats were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than the Guduru goats. Male goats were consistently higher than female goats in all variables except pelvic width (PW). BW could be predicted from the regression equation y = −45.22 + 1.04x for does and y = −59.71 + 1.25x for bucks, where y and x are the BW and the heart girth, respectively. This phenotypic information serves as a basis for designing appropriate conservation and breeding strategies for goats in the study area. However, it should be substantiated with genetic characterization to guide the overall goat breeding and conservation programmes.

Pigs have socio-economic and cultural importance to the livelihood of many Bhutanese rural communities. While there is evidence of increased religious disapproval of pig raising, the consumption of pork, which is mainly met from imports, is increasing every year. Pig development activities are mainly focused on introduction of exotic germplasm. There is an evidence of a slow but steady increase in the population of improved pigs in the country. On the other hand, indigenous pigs still comprise 68 percent of the total pig population but their numbers are rapidly declining. If this trend continues, indigenous pigs will become extinct within the next 10 years. Once lost, this important genetic resource is largely irreplaceable. Therefore, Government of Bhutan must make an effort to protect, promote and utilize indigenous pig resources in a sustainable manner. In addition to the current ex situ conservation programme based on cryopreservation of semen, which needs strengthening, in situ conservation and a nucleus farm is required to combat the enormous decline of the population of indigenous pigs and to ensure a sustainable source of swine genetic resources in the country.

This paper presents a review of past and present effort for the maintenance and improvement of breeds of chicken. This involves what is done on large state farms, in research institutes and by fancy breeders. The present sate of this genetic resources is illustrated by a long table listing all the breeds with the available information.

The South African Angora goat industry makes the largest contribution to global mohair production. Mohair is a luxury fibre and production of a high quality clip is essential. For many years genetic improvement of Angoras in South Africa was based on quantitative selection. Genome mapping efforts provided new avenues for improvement and a quantitative trait loci (QTL) study was initiated to identify QTL associated with mohair traits. The aim of this study was to describe the genetic diversity of the reference population using the available stud and commercial herds with full phenotypic records. The most appropriate QTL design was identified based on the population structure with regard to the families and number of bucks available for breeding. Four herds, consisting of 1067 pure bred goats in 12 half-sib families, were included. Blood samples were obtained from the herds, 94 markers were tested and diversity parameters were estimated. The average number of alleles per marker varied between 5.4 and 7.2 amongst the herds, whereas the observed heterozygosity varied between 0.59 and 0.67. The genetic structure of these herds was found appropriate for use as a reference population as they showed sufficient genetic variability.

The objective of the present study was to describe the frequency of the main racial traits of Morada Nova sheep and simulate the impact of this culling on the response to selection for birth weight. The data from sex, coat colour, hoof pigmentation, muzzle pigmentation, polled and cryptorchidism were collected individually at weaning from 385 Morada Nova sheep of the red variety, born between 2010 and 2012, which belonged to four different flocks in the state of Ceará, Brazil. To estimate the impact of culling of animals due to racial pattern on the genetic improvement of the Morada Nova population, the genetic gains in birth weight per generation were calculated considering the following different scenarios of culling due to racial pattern in a simulated population. The present results indicate that the most urgent step is flexibilization of the requirement of dark muzzles and hooves. The selection of Morada Nova sheep based on racial pattern has caused losses in the genetic gain for productive traits such as birth weight. Readaptation of the official racial pattern established for Morada Nova sheep is necessary so that the racial pattern is achieved and an adequate number of animals will be available for selection.

General trends of development imply an increasing uniformity of animal genetic resources, caused by the loss of endangered breeds and increased inbreeding within commercial breeding populations. The implications of these trends point to a reduction in the genetic diversity of the animal genetic resources, which may reduce possibilities for utilization in the future, while at the same time a dramatic change in environmental production conditions can be observed. In order to change this developmental trend, sustainable management of animal genetic resources must be promoted globally. The fundamental issues for such sustainable management are illustrated by the principles given in the Convention on Biological Diversity. In order to accomplish sustainable management of these resources, the following actions must be taken:

• The development of policies to promote national and global responsibility for maintaining genetic diversity, which will not be addressed within this paper

• The development of knowledge as a fundamental concept to impose sustainable management principles on these animal genetic resources. This will be dealt with in this paper. A more complete description of these features can be found in Woolliams et al, 2005 in (Sustainable Management of Animal Genetic Resources).

This paper describes the zootechnical characteristics of the Pastoreño creole goat, representing the caprine population of the Low Mixteca region of Oaxaca State, Mexico.

These animals characteristically produce fattened goats for traditional slaughter at Christmas, to elaborate a typical dry meat product known as Chito. At present the exact individual population of this breed is not known. Those registered as Creoles in the animals census in general are known. This breed however has particular productive and morphological characteristics which make them very different from other creole caprines in the rest of the state and the country. Information on their distribution, origin, morphological characteristics, handling and productive systems is presented in this paper.

This study was undertaken in order to characterize the Ponwar breed and to establish its present status so that suitable breeding strategies and conservation models could be suggested for the overall improvement of the breed.

The Ponwar is a draught cattle breed and is native to the Pilibhit District of Uttar Pradesh. The breeding tract lies between latitude 28°4' and 28°8' North and between longitude 79°0' and 80°4' East. The coat colour of these animals is brown or black with white patches in varying proportions. The tail switch is white in black animals and black in those having a greater proportion of white patches. The body is small, compact and non-fleshy, the face is small and narrow and the ears are small. The horns are small to medium and curve inward with pointed tips. The hump is small in females and developed in males. The tail is long and reaches to below the hock. Cows have small udders and teats. The animals of this breed possess an aggressive temperament.

The milk production of the Ponwar cows is low, i.e. about 0.5 to 2.5 kg per day for a lactation period of 8 to 10 (average 8.9±0.1) months. Lactation milk yield averaged 462.5±12.1 kg. The age at first calving ranged from 40 to 60 months and the inter-calving period averaged 12.6±0.1 months. The service period in Ponwar cattle varied from 60 to 100 days. The cows remained dry for average of 110.0±2.6 days. Bullocks of this breed can transport an 800 to 1 000 kg load up to 10 kilometres easily. They can plough 0.4 hectares of land in a day working for 6 to 8 hours. Body length, height at wither and heart girth in adult cows averaged 97.1±0.5, 109.0±0.4 and 140.6±0.5 cm, respectively. The animals recorded in the different villages had similar average body measurements corresponding to their category. The survey revealed that about 21% of total cattle population was of Ponwar breed in Puranpur Tehsil. The approximate Ponwar population in the entire breeding tract was estimated as 10 667.

The Nigerian indigenous pigs (NIP) are threatened to lose their genetic diversity through unsustainable farming practices in Nigeria. Therefore, the genetic relationships of NIP and commercially developed cross-bred pigs were evaluated to pinpoint a possible source of pure uncontaminated genetic stocks of NIP for conservation. Blood protein polymorphisms were used as a preliminary genetic analysis of blood samples from a total of 120 pigs (79 NIP from three separate locations and 41 cross-bred pigs). Nineteen polymorphic bands of the blood proteins globulin, transferrin and albumin were observed by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and a phylogenetic dendrogram was developed to analyse the genetic relationship between the NIPs. The three NIPs were found to have a high genetic similarity (84 percent similarity coefficient), and were found to be distinctly different from the commercially cross-bred strains. One line from a farm in Ogbooro, Saki Oyo, Nigeria was identified as a relatively stable genetic resource that may be a suitable NIP for future conservation efforts.

A structured questionnaire was administered to 40 households in each of the three localities (Bahri, Dilling and Abu-neama). Morphological characteristics of 900 chickens were physically examined. Data analysis showed that the average flock size per household was 16.7 and that it varied significantly among localities. The flock structure study showed that 46.1 percent were chicks and growers, 34.6 percent hens and 19.35 percent cocks. Regarding the ecotypes, the flock was composed of 75.7, 8.8 and 15.5 percent large Beladi (LB), bare neck (BN) and Betwil (BT) dwarf, respectively. The Sudanese indigenous chicken are characterized by wide phenotypic variation. The plumage colour frequencies were mixed colour (37.8 percent), light brown (16.5 percent), black (13.1 percent), grey (3.5 percent) and white (6.2 percent). Feathering did not show a well-defined pattern; however, the few birds whose feathering pattern could be identified were crown feather (7.0 percent), partridge (3.5 percent), barred (3.5 percent), laced (3.1 percent) and frizzled (0.01 percent). The average adult body weight was 1 650.5 ± 125 g in males and 1 187 ± 70 g in females. Hens reached sexual maturity at 6.5 months and layed 13.2 eggs/clutch in 3–3.5 clutches per year. The average egg weight was 40.8 ± 1.6 g and the hatchability rate under natural incubation was 71.8 percent. The BN ecotype had significantly (P < 0.01) poorer maternal care (57.7 percent hatchability) compared with the other types (LB and BT).

Este artículo describe brevemente el origen de los, bovinos “criollos” en Colombia, el nicho ecológico donde ha prosperado el ganado criollo Blanco Orejinegro (BON) y las principales características zootécnicas y productivas de esta raza. Se presentan los resultados de heterosis hallados en planes de cruzamiento con las razas Cebú (Brahman), Charolais y Santa Gertrudis.

This paper reviews the current situation of conservation activities in Europe. It includes an overview of the current situation of the relevant policy measures and related activities, the involvement of the public and private sector, and funding and estimated benefits of these actions. The review is based on the results of a survey conducted within the European National Coordinators for the management of animal genetic resources (AnGR), initiated by the GLOBALDIV project. The objective of this review is to bring to the attention of policy-makers and European Commission the conclusions and recommendations as a contribution to the formulation of future policies. The increasing awareness to the importance of AnGR biodiversity is reflected in the responses to this survey, particularly in the issues related to the cryoconservation activities in the different countries and the discussion on the expected benefits of the implementation of conservation programmes. The concept of biodiversity as a public good has already been accepted by European public and by policy-makers. The additional scope of protection of farm animal biodiversity, as an investment in the future food security, needs to be reflected in the future policies.

A way of making local breeds more sustainable is to promote their products through individual or collective initiatives. Those initiatives can induce new points of view on the breed and lead to discussions or even tensions between stakeholders. We illustrate this statement with examples of French cattle breeds. Several kinds of changes in breeding goals are described in this paper, with the appearance of new challenges and/or new stakeholders linked to the development of strategies to add value to the breed. Then the several ways in which those changes occurred are explained. The situations analysed show configurations with easy consensus to build as well as situations of conflicts. Those case studies highlight the importance of the existence of arenas where the diverse points of view can be expressed. The role of the breed associations is then essential, but remains complex as, in some cases, breeding goals are strongly discussed. The question of the orientation of the breed then becomes a key question when initiatives to add value to local breeds are taken. New choices of add value generally have important consequences on the definition of breeding goals.

Jakhrana is an important dairy breed of the semi-arid tract of the Rajasthan State of India. The habitat of this breed is a small hamlet in the Aravali hill ranges. The breed is spread over a limited area and the population size is small. The breed is of medium size, with a predominantly black coloured coat with white spots on ears and muzzle. Body weight, body length, punch girth, heart girth and body height at 12 months of age were respectively 30.9±1.7 kg, 69.5±1.9 cm, and 69.1±1.4 cm, 61.9±0.6 cm and 77.2±1.6 cm in males and 22.6±0.7 kg, 62.1±0.8 cm and 63.3±0.6 cm, 60.1±0.6 cm and 69.1±0.7 cm for the females. Pre-weaning and post-weaning body weight gains were higher in males. Overall milk yield in 181 days was 116 kg. Kidding rate was 75 percent in field conditions with a twinning percentage of 79.1 percent. The field survey on this breed indicated that the goats were managed in a traditional system. The goats were kept by the farmers to meet their nutritional as well as economic needs. The marketing of live goats and goat products had limitations. There is no breed conservation/improvement programme at the moment, this is urgently needed to improve this goat breed.

The Vechur Cattle of South Kerala (India), once popular and known for its comparatively high milk yield compared with the other local varieties, had become almost extinct by the 1980s. This was due to the massive cross-breeding with exotic bulls implemented by the Government in order to enhance milk production. But the launching of a search for the last available specimens of the variety and the initiation of a conservation effort in 1989 in the Kerala Agricultural University by the author and a team of her students resulted in saving this valuable breed. With 10 years time the distribution of the progeny of the foundation stock to the farmers could be started. The conservation work was taken forward with strong determination in spite of unexpected events. The Vechur cattle was subsequently recognized as a cattle breed of India. The cow yields 2.5 litres of milk daily during the lactation period of about 8 months. It has emerged as a sustainable cow to farmers. The adaptability of the animal to the hot humid tropical countries has special significance as an insurance for the future. It also has the potential to be a small good beef breed. The value of the milk including the small fat globule size, presence of A2 beta-lactalbumin protein and higher arginine content has been proven scientifically. The total population size in Kerala is estimated to be 2000 animals.

Egg quality traits of local Ghanaian chickens from two agro-ecological zones were measured and compared with those of an imported breed, SASSO T44 chickens from the day of lay to a period of 21 days in storage. On the average SASSO T44 chickens had significantly (P < 0.05) higher egg weight, shell weight, albumen height (AH), albumen weight, yolk weight, albumen ratio and Haugh units (HU). Eggs of the local chicken ecotypes had significantly (P < 0.05) higher yolk ratios than the SASSO T44 birds with chickens from the forest zone being superior (P < 0.05) to those from the savannah in AH. Fluctuations in egg quality traits during the 3-week study period were similar in the three ecotypes studied. Conversion of AH to HU narrowed the gap in egg quality performance between local and SASSO T44 chickens. There was a negative effect of storage time on egg quality irrespective of the chicken ecotype. It was recommended that chicken eggs should be kept at temperatures cooler than ambient temperatures to minimize deterioration of their quality.

The paper describes the breed characteristics, production performance including reproduction, growth, carcass and meat quality traits of the Tongcheng pig, one of the indigenous pig breeds suitable for a hybrid maternal line in central China. Based on the field investigation and data statistics from the farm recordings, the Tongcheng pig has early sexual maturity indicators, and the average litter size is 8.5 for first parity and 9.3 and 11.3 for the second and subsequent parities respectively. In a three-way crossing project launched recently, using the Tongcheng pig as the maternal parent and Landrace or Yorkshire pigs as the paternal parent, the performance testing results showed that Tongcheng pigs had a lower growth and meat production performance than these commercial pigs, but had superior meat quality. The production performance of the two crossing groups Landrace/Yorkshire/Tongcheng pigs) (LYT) and Yorkshire/Landrace/Tongcheng pigs) (YLT) were improved in comparison to their parent lines, and the results further indicated that the LYT cross is a tri-crossing style convenient for farm and village areas in central China. Meanwhile, effective management measures taken towards Tongcheng pig preservation, and a genetic diversity evaluation on the Tongcheng pig were reviewed. This paper offers the Tongcheng pig as a case study for the maintenance and utilization of indigenous pigs in China, which is rich in pig breeds but is also confronting the pig resource crisis.