Cattle Domestication Essay

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1.1 Cattle domestication:
Domesticated Cattle belong to the family Bovidae and sub family Bovinae, which appeared in the Miocene approximately 20 million years ago. There are more than 800 different cattle breeds recognized worldwide. Cattle are considered the most important and significant domesticated economic animal (Loftus et al. 1994). In addition to milk, cattle contribute other important commodities including meat, hides, traction and dung. The taurine and zebu cattle were probably domesticated and kept around for easy access to food, including meat, milk & their products and for their use as load-bearers and plows. The many archaeological records for domestication of wild forms of cattle (Bos primigenius) indicated that the process …show more content…

They are in the central of human culture and represent one of the most important domesticated animals (Loftus et al. 1994). The evolution and domestication of cattle have been always contentious research particularly in determining the relationship between the two main types of cattle the humped zebu and hump less taurine. Due to the economic importance of cattle, morphological and genetic differences observed between the two subspecies are still an active area of research and speculations (David et al. 1997). India is rich in dairy animal diversity. It has diverse and distinguishing cattle genetic resources which led to their domestication some 10000 years …show more content…

The major zebu cattle breeds of the world include Gir, Kankrej, Ongole, Sahiwal, Indo-Brazilian, Nelore, Brahman, Tharparkar, Red Sindhi, Butana, Kenana, Boran, Baggara, Kangayam and Southern Yellow. Other breeds of zebu cattle are quite local, such as the Hariana of Haryana and eastern Punjab or the Rath of Alwar in eastern Rajasthan. The Zebu cattle have ability to survive under vigorous conditions attracted the attention of the settlers and attempts were made in various regions to breed these cattle pure or to use them for cross-breeding

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