Monday 23 July 2018

What is a Nguni cow hide and where does it come from?

Nguni Hide Origin
Nguni cattle is native to the Bantu ethnic group from Southeastern area of Africa, the Nguni people. Included in this group are Ndebele, Swazi, Xhosa, and Zulu.

Back in the day, nguni cattle was not named differently. Actually, they would name the cattle after the group of Nguni people who breeds it. So, if the Zulu people is breeding the cattle, it would be named “Zulu”; and if the Swazi people are breeding the cattle, they would name it “Swazi”. Different names, same breed of cattle.

Nguni cattle is classified as a Bos Indicus cattle. However, they are also considered as progenitors of the Hamitic Longhorn according to H.H. Curson and R.W Tornton.

Nguni cattle was formerly used as a foundation stock to the Bos Taurus bulls. As such, they were used to provide part of the genetic base to the Bos Taurus Bulls and nothing more. Not until the 1940s when the Nguni cattle was appreciated and its potential realized.

For one, Nguni cattle are naturally immune to endemic diseases. They also have the ability to breed even under harsh conditions. Because of these factors, Nguni cattle was finally recognized as a pure breed in 1983 under the Livestock Improvement Act. Click here to know more about #tonga basket.

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