The Africanis is a dog

landrace A landrace is a Domestication, domesticated, locally adapted, often traditional variety of a species of animal or plant that has developed over time, through adaptation to its natural and cultural Environment (biophysical), environment of agric ...

found across

southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

. It is a medium-sized, short-coated dog, with a distinctive black patch around the front of the muzzle.

Description

As is typical with landraces, there are several regional variations, believed to be the result of isolation and, to a limited degree, deliberate breeding. Some modern writers describe the Africanis as a

pariah dog Pye-dog, Desi Kutta or sometimes pariah dog, is a term used to describe an ownerless, half-wild, free-ranging dog that lives in or close to human settlements throughout Asia. The term is derived from the Sanskrit ''para'', which translates to "o ...

. This is considered an inappropriate classification, as the term typically denotes an ownerless, free-ranging dog. Considered a landrace with limited human interference in their breeding, the Africanis has also been maintained by human owners. The Africanis is a medium-sized, lightly built dog with a long slender muzzle and, usually, a short coat. It has been described as resembling a cross between a

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...

, a

terrier Terrier () is a Dog type, type of dog originally bred to hunt vermin. A terrier is a dog of any one of many Dog breed, breeds or landraces of the terrier Dog type, type, which are typically small, wiry, Gameness, game, and fearless. There are fi ...

and a

dingo The dingo (either included in the species ''Canis familiaris'', or considered one of the following independent taxa: ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (basal (phylogenetics), basal) lineage ...

. It can be found in almost any colour or combination of colours, although fawns, browns, brindles and blacks with various white markings are common. A distinctive, possibly primitive, feature is a black patch found high on the outside of the tail where the caudal gland is found in the wild

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...

. The Africanis usually stands between . Being a

, minor variations in appearance may be common. The Africanis is nonetheless known to breed true to a recognisable form.

History

Africa's indigenous dogs descended from

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

ian dogs found throughout the

Nile Delta The Nile Delta (, or simply , ) is the River delta, delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's larger deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the eas ...

around 5,900 years ago. It is believed the descendants of these dogs spread throughout Africa with tribal movements, first throughout the

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

and finally reaching southern Africa around the

6th century The 6th century is the period from 501 through 600 in line with the Julian calendar. In the West, the century marks the end of Classical Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages. The collapse of the Western Roman Empire late in the prev ...

AD. The Africanis has always been attached to

human settlement In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community of people living in a particular location, place. The complexity of a settlement can range from a minuscule number of Dwelling, dwellings gro ...

s in southern Africa. The dogs have been used to help herd sheep, goats and cattle, guard against predators and help their human companions in the hunt. The Africanis is known by a number of names. These include the

Kaffer Kaffir () is an exonym and an ethnic slur the use of it in reference to Black South Africans, black people being particularly common in South Africa and to some degree Namibia and the former Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). In Arabic, the word ''kāfir ...

brak (racist term), Kasi dog, umbwa wa ki-tamaduni ("traditional dog" in

Kiswahili Swahili, also known as as it is referred to in the Swahili language, is a Bantu language originally spoken by the Swahili people, who are found primarily in Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique (along the East African coast and adjacent littoral i ...

), the

Khoikhoi Khoikhoi (Help:IPA/English, /ˈkɔɪkɔɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''KOY-koy'') (or Khoekhoe in Namibian orthography) are the traditionally Nomad, nomadic pastoralist Indigenous peoples, indigenous population of South Africa. They ...

dog, the

Tswana Tswana may refer to: * Tswana people, the Bantu languages, Bantu speaking people in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other Southern Africa regions * Tswana language, the language spoken by the (Ba)Tswana people * Tswanaland, ...

dog and the Zulu dog. Other local names include Sica, Isiqha, umhuqa, umgodoyi, Ixhalaga, Ixalagha, Isigola, I-Twina, and Itiwina. While generally looked down upon by European settlers who preferred their imported dog breeds, the Africanis was held in higher esteem by Europeans in Africa than the Indian pariah dog was in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Efforts have been made to protect, preserve and promote these dogs, and prevent them from being split into a number of different breeds based upon different distinguishing physical features. In South Africa, a society was established in 1998 to preserve the Africanis, the Africanis Society of Southern Africa. The name ''Africanis'' is a portmanteau of the words "Africa" and "

canis ''Canis'' is a genus of the Caninae which includes multiple extant taxon, extant species, such as Wolf, wolves, dogs, coyotes, and golden jackals. Species of this genus are distinguished by their moderate to large size, their massive, well-develo ...

Notes

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite journal , last=Arman , first=Koharik , date=September 2007 , title=A new direction for kennel club regulations and breed standards , journal=Canadian Veterinary Journal , volume=48 , issue=9 , pages=953–965 , pmc=1950109 , pmid=17966340 {{cite book , last1=Moggs , first1=Tim , last2=Sealy , first2=Judith , author-link2=Judith Sealy , chapter=Africanis: the pre-colonial dog of Africa , editor1-last=van Sittert , editor1-first=Lance , editor2-last=Swart , editor2-first=Sandra , date=2008 , title=Canis Africanis: a dog history of Southern Africa , location=Leiden , publisher=Brill , pages=35–52 , isbn=978-90-04-15419-3 {{cite book , last=Morris , first=Desmond , author-link=Desmond Morris , date=2001 , title=Dogs: the ultimate dictionary of over 1,000 dog breeds , location=North Pomfret, VT , publisher=Trafalgar Square Publishing , pages=685–686 , isbn=1-57076-219-8

External links

AfriCanis Society of Southern Africa

"Africanis, the original dog of Africa" by Mary Alexander, South Africa Gateway, 5 October 2020

''The dog shaped by Africans for Africa'', by Catherine Corrett, 31 October, 2014, ''Africa Geographic''
Dog breeds originating in Africa Dog landraces Landraces of Africa

Description

History

See also

Notes

References

External links