Boran cattle are a popular
Zebu
The zebu (; ''Bos indicus''), also known as indicine cattle and humped cattle, is a species or subspecies of Bos taurus, domestic cattle originating in South Asia. Zebu, like many Sanga cattle breeds, differs from taurine cattle by a fatty hump ...
beef breed in eastern Africa.
Through DNA sampling, Hanotte et al. have analyzed the genetic make-up of the Boran and it consists of the following genetic proportions—64% ''Bos indicus'', 24% European ''Bos taurus'' and 12% African ''Bos taurus''.
History
Kenyan Boran cattle were developed from the native shorthorned
Zebu
The zebu (; ''Bos indicus''), also known as indicine cattle and humped cattle, is a species or subspecies of Bos taurus, domestic cattle originating in South Asia. Zebu, like many Sanga cattle breeds, differs from taurine cattle by a fatty hump ...
cattle of the
Borana Oromo people of southern
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
.
They are usually white or fawn,
with the bulls being darker with black point.
Their great similarity to the American
Brahman cattle
In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' (; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Brahman'') connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality of the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, ...
is not without basis, they are also descended from cattle from the western coast of India, only much earlier.
Since 1951, the Boran Cattle Breeders' Society has been managed and strategically breeding Boran cattle in Kenya.
As of 2008, there were approximately 454 beef ranches in the country, which can be classified based on ownership as one of five categories: group ranches, private company ranches, co-operative ranches, public company ranches, and government ranches.
Physical characteristics
Having been in Africa for over a thousand years, they are very well adapted to local conditions and parasites. Boran cattle are known for their fertility, early maturation (more so than other Zebu breeds), hardiness, and docility.
Types
The Orma Boran is the smallest of the Boran breeds, smaller than the Kenyan Boran. Mature male Orma Boran range in size from , while females are from .
The Kenyan Boran developed from the Orma Boran, Borana, and Somali Boran.
The Kenyan Boran is differentiated from other Boran due to its size and well-developed hindquarters.
Mature male Kenyan Boran range in size from , while females are from .
The Kenyan Boran coat colour is usually white with spots, but brown and red coat colours have also been found.
Parasites
Boran have very little
trypanotolerance, although surprisingly they do carry a few
allele
An allele is a variant of the sequence of nucleotides at a particular location, or Locus (genetics), locus, on a DNA molecule.
Alleles can differ at a single position through Single-nucleotide polymorphism, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), ...
s which are specific to Boran and could be useful for
introgression
Introgression, also known as introgressive hybridization, in genetics is the transfer of genetic material from one species into the gene pool of another by the repeated backcrossing of an interspecific hybrid with one of its parent species. Introg ...
into other breeds.
As Boran are not entirely derived from extra-African forebears, and have spent some of their formation time as a breed within Africa, it is possible that this is the result of selection against
trypanosomiasis challenge.
References
{{Reflist, refs=
[{{cite journal, last1=Hanotte, first1=O., last2=Ronin, first2=Y., last3=Agaba, first3=M., last4=Nilsson, first4=P., last5=Gelhaus, first5=A., last6=Horstmann, first6=R., last7=Sugimoto, first7=Y., last8=Kemp, first8=S., last9=Gibson, first9=J., last10=Korol, first10=A., last11=Soller, first11=M., last12=Teale, first12=A., title=Mapping of quantitative trait loci controlling trypanotolerance in a cross of tolerant West African N'Dama and susceptible East African Boran cattle, journal=]Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America'' (often abbreviated ''PNAS'' or ''PNAS USA'') is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It is the official journal of the National Academy of Scie ...
, publisher=National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...
, volume=100, issue=13, year=2003, pages=7443–7448, issn=0027-8424, doi=10.1073/pnas.1232392100, s2cid=18664845, pmid=12805560, pmc=164605, bibcode=2003PNAS..100.7443H, doi-access=free
[{{cite journal , last=Naessens , first=J. , title=Bovine trypanotolerance: A natural ability to prevent severe anaemia and haemophagocytic syndrome? , journal= International Journal for Parasitology , publisher=]Elsevier
Elsevier ( ) is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as ''The Lancet'', ''Cell (journal), Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, ...
, volume=36 , issue=5 , year=2006 , issn=0020-7519 , doi=10.1016/j.ijpara.2006.02.012 , pages=521–528 , s2cid=11889368 , pmid=16678182
External links
Boran Cattle Breeders Society KenyaBoran Breeders South-Africa
Cattle breeds originating in Kenya