Boran
Breed Origins
The South African Boran was founded out of a need by commercial farmers that were tired of over managed and over fed animals and started searching for the ultimate grass fed animal. It had to survive in our country’s diverse climate and handle periodic droughts without any supplementation.
The first introduction into Africa, was hump-less taurine Hamitic Longhorns (Bos Taurus) and they arrived in the Nile Delta around 6000 BC. The second introduction, that of the taurine Shorthorns (B. Taurus), supposedly occurred about 2750-2500 BC. The first introduction of the humped zebu Bos Indicus cattle was as early as 2000-1788 BC. The second introduction, associated with the Arab invasion of Africa, occurred at about 699 AD. African Bos Taurus was domesticated in Africa.
domesticated
in 3 parts of the world
Boran cattle were domesticated in 3 parts of the world:
Bos Indicus (Zebu cattle) was domesticated in the Indus Valley (Pakistan) 4000BC
European Bos Taurus was domesticated in eastern Europe 6000 BC
African Bos Taurus was domesticated in the eastern Sub-Saharan area 8000 BC
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Genetic
make-up of the Boran
Through DNA sampling Hanotte et al have analyzed the genetic make-up of the Boran and it consists of the following genetic proportions:
European Bos Taurus – 24%
Bos Indicus – 64%
African Bos Taurus – 12%
The Boran developed in Eastern Africa and the main Boran hotspot was the Borana plateau in Southern Ethiopia. That was a point where all the different breeds migrated through to their various destinations in Africa. The Boran developed into the dominant breed of Eastern Africa and especially in Kenya, where the Kenyan Boran Cattle Breeders’ Society (BCBS) have bred the “Improved Boran” since the turn of the century. “While the Boran breeders have greatly improved the beef conformation of their animals, they never lost sight of the important qualities of the indigenous Boran” to quote the BCBS. As far as can be determined this is the only breed in Africa (and therefore the world) to have this specific combination of genes.
It must be properly understood that the Boran is a breed that had it’s last infusion of “new” genes in 700 AD. The Boran is therefore NOT a synthetic or compound breed that have been crossbred in the last few decades. It has been bred as a pure breed for 1300 years. The importance of this to the commercial breeder is that the Boran will have much stronger hybrid vigor than modern compound breeds.