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South African developed meat type goats: A forgotten animal genetic resource?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2011

A. Pieters ,
E. van Marle-Köster ,
C. Visser  and
A. Kotze
A. Pieters
Affiliation:
Department of'Animal & Wildlife Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
E. van Marle-Köster
Affiliation:
Department of'Animal & Wildlife Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
C. Visser
Affiliation:
Department of'Animal & Wildlife Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
A. Kotze
Affiliation:
National Zoological Gardens, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
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Summary

There are mainly three locally developed meat type goat breeds in South Africa namely the South African Boer goat, the Savanna and the Kalahari Red. In order to maintain the characteristics of these breeds and to ensure that their unique traits are not lost through continuous selection and cross-breeding, it has become important to revisit current breed standards and introduce genetic characterization to obtain genetic diversity parameters. Both the Boer goat and Savanna breeds have established breeders associations while a breeders club was founded for the Kalahari Red goats. These associations have set breed standards and the breeds' morphometric traits have recently been described. The differences in morphometric traits among the breeds are fairly insignificant. Preliminary data on genetic diversity report heterozygosity values above 50% for each of the three breeds and they can be distinguished as separate breeds based on genotyping results with eighteen ISAG recommended microsatellite markers. There is however a need for a genetic characterization of both meat type and indigenous goats to ensure sufficient diversity within the breeds for long term conservation of the unique genetic resource.

Resumé

Il y a en gros trois races de chèvres à viande développées en Afrique du Sud, à savoir la chèvre Boer sud-africaine, la Savanna et la Kalahari Rouge. Afin de conserver les caractéristiques de ces races et de faire en sorte que leurs traits uniques ne se perdent pas au cours des sélections et croisements continus, il est devenu nécessaire de revoir les normes des races actuelles et d'introduire des caractéristiques génétiques pour obtenir des paramètres de diversité génétique. La race de chèvre Boer et la Savanna ont des associations d'éleveurs établies, tandis qu'un club d'éleveurs a été créé pour les Kalahari Rouge. Ces associations ont des normes raciales bien définies et les traits morpho-métriques des races ont été décrits récemment. Les différences dans les traits morpho-métriques des races sont négligeables. Les données préliminaires sur la diversité génétique révèlent des valeurs hétérozygotes de plus de 50% pour chacune des trois races et elles peuvent être distinguées comme des races séparées en se basant sur les résultats génotypiques avec dix-huit marqueurs microsatellites recommandés par l'ISAG. Cependant, il faut faire une caractérisation génétique des deux types de viande et des chèvres indigènes pour garantir une diversité suffisante dans les races afin de conserver á long terme cette unique ressource génétique.

Resumen

Existen mayormente tres razas de cabras de carne en Sud Africa, la cabra Boersudafricana, la Savanna y la Kalahari Roja. Con el fin de conservar las características de estas razas y conseguir que sus rasgos únicos no se pierdan a lo largo de selecciones y cruces continuos, se ha hecho necesario revisar las normas de las razas actuales e introducir características genéticas para obtener parámetros de diversidad genética. Las razas de cabra Boer y Savanna poseen asociaciones deganaderos, mientras que un club de ganaderos ha sido creado para la Kalahari Roja. Estas asociaciones tienen normas bien definidas para las razas y los rasgos morfométricos han sido descritos recientemente. Las diferencias en los rasgos morfométricos entre las razas no son importantes. Los datos preliminares sobre la diversidad genética revelan valores de heterocigosis de más del 50% para cada una de las tres razas y pueden diferenciarse como razas separadas en base a los resultados genotípicoscon dieciocho marcadores microsatelitares recomendados por ISAG. Sin embargo, hay que hacer una caracterización genética de dos tipos de carne y de cabras indígenas para garantizar una diversidad suficiente entre las razas con el fin de conservara largo plazo este recurso genético único.

Keywords

Meat typePhenotypicGenetic characteristicsUtilizationConservation
Type
Research Articles
Information
Animal Genetic Resources/Resources génétiques animales/Recursos genéticos animales , Volume 44 , April 2009 , pp. 33 - 43
Copyright
Copyright © Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2009

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