Begayt cattle

Begayt
Country of origin	Ethiopia
Distribution	Western Tigray
Use	Draught, milk, meat (in that order)
Traits
Coat	black and white stained
Horn status	medium
	Cattle; Bos (primigenius) indicus;

Begayt is an Ethiopian breed of cattle.^[1]^[2] Currently there are ongoing cross-breeding programmes with Arado cattle, in an attempt to increase the milk production of the latter.

Origin of the cattle breed

Ethiopia has been at a crossroads for cattle immigration to Africa^[1]^[3] due to

proximity to the geographical entry of Indian and Arabian zebu
proximity to Near-Eastern and European taurine
introgression with West African taurine due to pastoralism

Furthermore, the diverse agro-ecology led to diverse farming systems which, in turn, made Ethiopia a centre of secondary diversification^[1] for livestock :

The Sanga cattle originated in Ethiopia. They are a major bovine group in Africa – a cross-breeding of local long-horned taurines and Arabian zebus^[3]
The Begayt are one of the Zenga (Zebu-Sanga) breeds, which resulted from a second introduction and crossing with Indian zebu^[3]

Threats on the cattle breed

socio-political stresses: civil wars and recent urbanisation
panzootic stresses: cattle plague^[4]
environmental stresses drought and destruction of ecosystems^[5]
extensive cross-breeding with Arado

Closely related types

Arado cattle

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Merha Zerabruk, and colleagues (2011). "Genetic diversity and admixture of indigenous cattle from North Ethiopia: implications of historical introgressions in the gateway region to Africa". Animal Genetics. 43 (3): 257–266. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2052.2011.02245.x. PMID 22486496.
^ Cattle breeds, milk production, and transhumance in Dogu'a Tembien. In: Geotrekking in Ethiopia's tropical mountains, Chapter 28. Cham: SpringerNature. 2019. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_28. S2CID 199323600.
^ ^a ^b ^c Hanotte, O. and colleagues (2002). "African pastoralism: genetic imprints of origins and migrations". Science. 296 (5566): 336–339. Bibcode:2002Sci...296..336H. doi:10.1126/science.1069878. PMID 11951043. S2CID 30291909.
^ Pankhurst, R (1985). The history of famine and epidemics in Ethiopia prior to the twentieth century. Addis Ababa: Relief and Rehabilitation Commission.
^ Van Cappellen, H (2016). The ox-plow complex on the edge: an ethnographic inquiry into social change and cross-breed dairy farming in Tigray, Ethiopia [MSc Thesis]. KU Leuven, Belgium.

[merha2011-1] Merha Zerabruk, and colleagues (2011). "Genetic diversity and admixture of indigenous cattle from North Ethiopia: implications of historical introgressions in the gateway region to Africa". Animal Genetics. 43 (3): 257–266. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2052.2011.02245.x. PMID 22486496.

[ch28-2] Cattle breeds, milk production, and transhumance in Dogu'a Tembien. In: Geotrekking in Ethiopia's tropical mountains, Chapter 28. Cham: SpringerNature. 2019. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_28. S2CID 199323600.

[hanotte-3] Hanotte, O. and colleagues (2002). "African pastoralism: genetic imprints of origins and migrations". Science. 296 (5566): 336–339. Bibcode:2002Sci...296..336H. doi:10.1126/science.1069878. PMID 11951043. S2CID 30291909.

[4] Pankhurst, R (1985). The history of famine and epidemics in Ethiopia prior to the twentieth century. Addis Ababa: Relief and Rehabilitation Commission.

[5] Van Cappellen, H (2016). The ox-plow complex on the edge: an ethnographic inquiry into social change and cross-breed dairy farming in Tigray, Ethiopia [MSc Thesis]. KU Leuven, Belgium.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

Begayt cattle

Hub talks

Begayt cattle

Begayt cattle

Begayt cattle

Hub overview

Add your contribution

Inside this hub

Media Collections

Timelines

Articles

Notes collections

Notes

Days in Chronicle

Root Wikipedia Article

Begayt cattle

Origin of the cattle breed

Threats on the cattle breed

Closely related types

References

Add your contribution

Related Hubs

Begayt cattle

Hub talks

Welcome to #general!