Raya
Raya oxen at ploughing near Mekelle
Country of originEthiopia
Distributioneastern margin of the north Ethiopian highlands
UseDraught, meat, milk (in that order)
Traits
Coatred, black
Horn statuslong

The long-horned Raya cattle are a breed of cattle common in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia.[1][2] The Raya cattle have red and black coat colours. Bulls and oxen have thick and long horns and a cervicothoracic hump; cows have medium, thin horns. Raya cattle are closely related to the Afar cattle; this is a result of historical cattle raiding by the Raya people. The Raya cattle are however adapted to draught animals for tillage in the croplands of the highlands.[1]

Origin of the cattle breed

A group of Raya cattle near Mekelle, Tigray

Ethiopia has been at a crossroads for cattle immigration to Africa[3][4] 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[3] for livestock :

  • The Sanga cattle (including the Raya breed) originated in Ethiopia. They are a major bovine group in Africa – a cross-breeding of local long-horned taurines and Arabian zebus[4]
  • The Zenga (Zebu-Sanga) breeds, which resulted from a second introduction and crossing with Indian zebu[4]

Breeding and genetic resource management

The lowlands of Ethiopia are good for cattle breeding: there is abundant feed in the rangelands, and pastoral communities have a good knowledge and practice of selective and controlled breeding. Hence, the breed reproduction is much better for the agro-pastoral Raya breeds than for the generalist Arado cattle breed of the Highlands. Raya breeders use traditional methods of animal identification and intra-breed selection. They also cull unwanted male calves based on information on their genitors. Raya breeders have a sense of collective breed ownership. They only sell off oxen to outsiders, in order to protect and maintain the genetic resource from interbreeding with adjacent breeds.[3]

Stresses on the cattle breed

References

  1. 1 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.
  2. ↑ Merha Zerabruk; Vangen, O; Mitiku Haile (2007). "The status of cattle genetic resources in North Ethiopia: On-farm characterization of six major cattle breeds". Animal Genetic Resources Information. 40: 15–32. doi:10.1017/S1014233900002169.
  3. 1 2 3 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.
  4. 1 2 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.
  5. ↑ Pankhurst, R (1985). The history of famine and epidemics in Ethiopia prior to the twentieth century. Addis Ababa: Relief and Rehabilitation Commission.
  6. ↑ Zbelo Tesfamariam, and colleagues (2019). "Transhumance as a driving force of landscape change in the marginal grabens of northern Ethiopia". SJTG. 40 (3): 476–495. doi:10.1111/sjtg.12278. S2CID 159177828.
  7. ↑ 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.
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