Begayt cattle
{{short description|Type of cattle}}
{{Infobox cattle breed
| name = Begayt
| altname =
| country = Ethiopia
| status =
| image =
| image_caption =
| maleweight =
| femaleweight =
| coat = black and white stained
| horn = medium
| use = Draught, milk, meat (in that order)
| distribution = Western Tigray
| subspecies = indicus
}}
Begayt is an Ethiopian breed of cattle.{{cite journal |last1=Merha Zerabruk |first1=and colleagues |title=Genetic diversity and admixture of indigenous cattle from North Ethiopia: implications of historical introgressions in the gateway region to Africa |journal=Animal Genetics |date=2011 |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=257–266 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2052.2011.02245.x |pmid=22486496 }}{{cite book |title=Cattle breeds, milk production, and transhumance in Dogu'a Tembien. In: Geotrekking in Ethiopia's tropical mountains, Chapter 28 |date=2019 |publisher=SpringerNature |location=Cham |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_28 |s2cid=199323600 }} Currently there are ongoing cross-breeding programmes with Arado cattle, in an attempt to increase the milk production of the latter.
Origin of the cattle breed
Ethiopia has been at a crossroads for cattle immigration to Africa{{cite journal |last1=Hanotte |first1=O. and colleagues |title=African pastoralism: genetic imprints of origins and migrations |journal=Science |date=2002 |volume=296 |issue=5566 |pages=336–339 |doi=10.1126/science.1069878 |pmid=11951043 |bibcode=2002Sci...296..336H |s2cid=30291909 }} 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 for livestock :
- The Sanga cattle originated in Ethiopia. They are a major bovine group in Africa – a cross-breeding of local long-horned taurines and Arabian zebus
- The Begayt are one of the Zenga (Zebu-Sanga) breeds, which resulted from a second introduction and crossing with Indian zebu
Threats on the cattle breed
- socio-political stresses: civil wars and recent urbanisation
- panzootic stresses: cattle plague{{cite book |last1=Pankhurst |first1=R |title=The history of famine and epidemics in Ethiopia prior to the twentieth century |date=1985 |publisher=Relief and Rehabilitation Commission |location=Addis Ababa}}
- environmental stresses drought and destruction of ecosystems{{cite book |last1=Van Cappellen |first1=H |title=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 |date=2016}}
- extensive cross-breeding with Arado