PART ONE

INTRODUCTION

DESCENT AND DOMESTICATION OF GOATS AND

SHEEP
Goats and sheep both belong to the tribe Caprini of the family Bovidae in
the sub-order Ruminantia of the order Artiodactyla (Zeuner, 1963; Epstein,
1971; Corbet, 1978; Corbet & Hill, 1980; Ryder, 1984). They are typical
cloven-hoofed ruminants of relatively small size.
The tribe Caprini is comprised of five genera. Two of these genera, Capra
and Hemitragus, are true goats; one genus, Ovis, is the sheep; and there
are two genera -- Ammotragus and Pseudois -- of goat-like sheep or sheep-
like goats.
The Barbary sheep or aoudad, Ammotragus lervia (Figure 1), is confined to
the Sahara and the bharal or blue sheep, Pseudois nayaur, to the
Himalayas: neither of these have been domesticated and neither will
hybridize with true sheep of the genus Ovis. Fertile offspring by male
Barbary sheep out of female domestic goats are known, however.
According to latest taxonomic opinion the two genera of true goats are
divided into three species of Hemitragus or tahrs, and six of Capra. All the
tahrs have the same chromosome number (2n=48). Most of the Capra
species are interfertile although for some pairs no crosses are recorded: all
the species examined (bezoar, ibex and markhor) have the same number of
chromosomes (2n=60).

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 Figure 1 A female Barbary sheep Ammotragus lervia at Khartoum zoo
Hemitragus jayakari: Arabian tahr, found now only in Oman and in danger of
extinction;
Hemitragus jemlahicus: Himalaya tahr;
Hemitragus hylocrius: Nilgiri tahr of southern India;
Capra aegagrus: Bezoar or wild goat with five sub-species: the domestic
variant is classed as Capra hircus;
Capra ibex: Ibex, with four sub-species in the Alps; in central Asia; in the
Near East, Egypt and Sudan (C.i.nubian) (Figure 2); and in the Simen
Mountains of Ethiopia, this last being C.i.walie;
Capra caucasica: West Causasian tur or kuban which until recently was
considered as a sub-species of the ibex named C.i.severtzovi;
Capra cylindriocornis: East Caucasian tur which was earlier called
C.caucasica;
Capra pyrenaica: Spanish ibex or wild goat with two sub-species;
Capra falconeri: Markhonr of Afghanistan and Pakistan with six or seven
sub-species.
The nomenclature of the genus Ovis is confused bur latest opinion tends to
favour six wild species.
Ovis orientalis: Mouflon, with one sub-species in Asia (O.o.laristanica) and
one in Europe (O.o.musimon);
Ovis ammon: Argal, with nine sub- species;
Ovis vignei: Urial, with thirteen sub- species. Ovis orientalis is some-times
considered synonymous with O.vignei;

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 Figure 2 Nubian ibex Capra ibex nuniana in captivity at Khartoum zoo
Ovis canadensis: Bighorn, with eight sub-species in Canada and the United
States of America;
Ovis nivicola: Snow sheep of Siberia with three sub-species;
Ovis dalli: Thinhorn of Alaska also with three sub-species;
All these "species" of Ovis are fully interfertile and might therefore be
considered to be monotypic. To distinguish them from the wild types, all
domesticated sheep are now classed as Ovis aries. The mouflon has the
same number of chromosomes as the domestic sheep (2n=54) while the
urial (2n=58) and the argal (2n=56) differ.
Of the six species of Capra, it is most likely that only C.aegagrus blood is
present in the modern domestic goat although a slim possibility still remains
that the markhor, C.falconeri, may have been involved in the ancestry of
some Indian breeds.
The bighorn, 0.canadensis, and the thinhorn, 0.dalli, are excluded, on
geographical considerations alone, from the ancestry of domestic sheep.
Some authorities, on the grounds of chromosome number, consider the
mouflon to be the sole ancestor of the domestic sheep. Both the argal and
the urial, however, freely interbreed with, and produce fully fertile offspring
from, the domestic sheep and therefore cannot be excluded from its
ancestry.
Domestic goats and sheep, because of the divergence in chromosome
numbers, do not usually interbreed (Gray, 1972). Experimental chimaera
are known (Fehilly, Willadsen & Tucker, 1984; Meinecke-Tillman &
Meinecke, 1984) and one of these, back-crossed to a ram, is reported to
have produced twin offspring (Bunch, Foote & Spillet, 1976).
The most simple and effective visual way of separating goats from sheep is
the carriage of the tail -- in all domestic forms, goats' tails are erect while
those of sheep are pendent. There are, however, a considerable number of
additional morphological differences between the two species. Goats have
beard and caudal (i.e. at the tail) scent glands in the male. Sheep have
suborbital (under the eye) tear glands and lachrymal (tear) pits in the skull
and also possess foot glands: goats may, however, have glands in the

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forefeet. Both species differ from cattle in normally having only two nipples
instead of four.
Goats were almost certainly the first ruminants to be domesticated and were
possibly only the second species to be taken into the human fold after the
dog. South-west Asia (Iran and Iraq) is the most likely origin of the domestic
species, the bezoar, C.aegagrus, being present there. Domestication
occurred gradually over a period centred about 9000 years Before Present
(Mason, 1984). Domestication of sheep possibly followed closely upon that
of the goat and took place in the same area. Both goats and sheep
appeared in tomb and cave paintings in Egypt by about 7000 years BP.
Goats moved into sub-Saharan Africa by at least 5500 years BP and a
dwarf type has been recorded from that period near Khartoum in Sudan.
Sheep probably entered Africa with cattle, at some time in the period 6000-
5000 BP, possibly slightly later than goats.

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 SMALL RUMINANT PRODUCTION SYSTEMS IN
TROPICAL AFRICA
Tropical Africa contains one-third of all the world's goats and one-sixth of its
sheep. On average there is one goat or sheep on every 10 ha of tropical
Africa and there are 1.1 head of goats and sheep per person employed in
the agricultural sector. Goats and sheep are equivalent, in weight terms, to
about 17 per cent of the total domestic ruminant biomass (DRB) of tropical
Africa.
Total meat production from African goats and sheep combined is estimated
(FAO, 1985) at 1.15 million tonnes, equivalent to about 16 per cent of total
world output from these species. Milk from small ruminants is 1.99 million
tonnes, about 14 per cent of world production. Small ruminant skins from
Africa, estimated at 258 000 tonnes, represent about 16 per cent of world
production, the proportion from goats (25 per cent) being much greater than
that from sheep. African wool production, of about 228 000 tonnes, is
equivalent to less than 8 per cent of world output and most of this wool is
produced in South Africa and Africa north of the Sahara. Goats in tropical
Africa are much more important than sheep as milk producers and she-
goats (does) are estimated to produce about three times as much milk in
total as are ewes.

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DISTRIBUTION AND IMPORTANCE OF GOATS AND SHEEP

The major criteria adopted for assessing the distribution and importance of
goats and sheep are: the ratios of goats to sheep; the density per unit area
of both species combined; the ratio of goats and sheep to the human
population involved in agricultural activities; and the contribution of goats
and sheep to the total domestic ruminant biomass.

Ratios of goats to sheep

In tropical Africa as a whole, goats outnumber sheep in the ratio 1.16:1.00.

There does not appear to be any overall pattern in the relative importance of
goats and sheep related to the major ecological zones or to the major
production systems, at least at the country level (Figure 3).
Goats are dominant and exceed sheep by a ratio of 4:1 in widely disparate
countries. The highest ratios of more than 11:1 are found in the Central
African Republic and in Zambia. Both countries have low densities of small
ruminants, low ratios to the human population and a low contribution of
small ruminants to total ruminant biomass. Swaziland has a ratio of goats to
sheep exceeding 8:1. The ratio of goats to sheep in Botswana approaches
5:1, this country in general being much drier than the others where high
ratios are found and also having a largely pastoral vocation.
Countries in which goats remain dominant over sheep in ratios varying from
2:1 to 4:1 also appear to have few factors in common, either in terms of
agro-ecology or of principal production systems. They include the mainly
pastoral Niger (2.1:1.0) and neighbouring Nigeria (2.0:1.0). They also
include the largely agricultural countries of Zaire (3.8:1.0) and Mozambique
(3.1:1.0) as well as some countries with mixed agricultural-livestock
economies such as Angola (3.8:1), Zimbabwe (3.4:1.0) and Madagascar
(2.5:1.0). The two small central African highland republics of Rwanda
(2.9:1.0) and Burundi (2.2:1.0) also fall within this group.

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 Figure 3 Ratios of goats to sheep in tropical Africa
Sheep assume more importance but are still fewer in number than goats in
the major East African countries and in some of the Gulf of Guinea states in
West Africa. Somalia has a ratio of goats to sheep of 1.6:1.0, Djibouti of
1.3:1.0, Kenya of 1.2:1.0, Uganda of 1.7:1.0 and Tanzania of 1.6:1.0. In
West Africa the ratio varies from 1.3:1.0 in Burkina Faso to about parity in
Guinea, Côte d'lvoire and Ghana.
Goats are less numerous than sheep across much of the Sahel. In Senegal
there is only one goat for every two sheep and in Mauritania there are two
goats for three sheep. In Sudan and Ethiopia (and also in Gabon and
Lesotho) the proportion of goats to sheep is about 0.7:1.0 while in Chad it is
about 0.9:1.0. Sheep are more important than goats in Namibia, largely
because of the pelt industry, and outnumber them in the ratio of 1.0:0.4.

Density

Small ruminants achieve their highest densities in two distinct areas (Figure
4). More than 35 goats and sheep per square kilometre are found in the
Horn of Africa in Somalia and Djibouti where people are traditionally
pastoralists. Very high densities are also found in Ethiopia where much of
the northern, eastern and southern lowlands also have a pastoral vocation.
An additional factor in the high densities in Ethiopia is that the highlands
have heavy concentrations of people, the case being similar in the small
central African highland republics of Burundi and Rwanda. On a finer scale,
the eastern Zaire province of Kivu would also show high densities. Large
numbers of small ruminants are also found in Nigeria due to the same

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combination of a pastoral vocation (in the north) and large numbers of
people (in the centre and south) as in Ethiopia.

Figure 4 Densities of small ruminants per unit area in tropical Africa

Medium densities (18-35 head/km2) of small ruminants are found in
countries where there is relatively heavy human population pressure and
where they can be integrated with crop farming in mixed smallholder
systems. Examples are Togo and Benin in West Africa (countries which are
less humid than their immediate neighbours in the Gulf of Guinea) and
Uganda and Kenya in East Africa (although Kenya is also largely pastoral in
the north and north-east).
Lower densities (7-18 head/km2) are found in all the West African Sahel
countries and in Sudan. On a regional basis, densities would probably be in
the highest class in the southern areas of this group of countries but large
tracts of desert in the north are sparsely populated. Low to extremely low
densities are also found in the coastal Gulf of Guinea states mainly because
the people are principally agriculturalists but possibly also because of tsetse
fly infestation and other humid-associated disease problems.
Very low densities (< 7 goats and sheep/km2) are found from Chad (which is
very sparsely populated), through central Africa and into the southern states
of Botswana and Zimbabwe. With the exception of the two last named,
agriculture is the main preoccupation of the human population and
trypanosomiasis is also a problem. Zimbabwe has many more cattle than
small ruminants, mainly for socio-cultural reasons, and Botswana, like
Chad, is very sparsely populated. Madagascar also falls into the lowest
density class.
There are three major exceptions to the general rules governing density of
small ruminants. Tanzania has a low human population in relation to its
resource potential. Namibia is very thinly populated and has developed an
important industry based on pelt production from Karakul sheep. Lesotho is
in the highest density class for reasons similar to Namibia in that it has

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developed specialist production of mohair from Angora goats and fine wool
from Merino sheep.

Numbers of goats and sheep per person

Highest ratios of goats and sheep to humans (> 2.5:1.0) are found in the
principally pastoral countries (Figure 5 ). These include, again, Somalia and
Djibouti but also Mauritania. Namibia has by far the highest ratio of small
ruminants to humans (13.5:1.0), almost twice as great as in Mauritania (7.6)
and Somalia (7.4).

Figure 5 Relationships of total numbers of goats and sheep to the

numbers of people in tropical Africa
Intermediate ratios (1.3-2.5 head per person) are found in countries where
large segments of the population in the drier areas are pastoralists. These
include Mali, Niger and Sudan in the north and Botswana in the south.
Small, mountainous Lesotho also appears in this intermediate class
because, whilst having the highest density (78.9 head/km2) of goats and
sheep of all African countries, it also has a large human population in
relation to its area.
Low (0.7-1.3 head/person) and very low (< 0.7 head/person) ratios prevail in
the remainder of Africa. In Ethiopia the highland, mainly agricultural, areas
have a population of farmers which greatly outnumbers the pastoral peoples
of the lowlands and the situation is similar in Kenya. Togo and Benin, as
well as Burundi and Rwanda, which are in the high density classes for small
ruminants, also have large human populations, this leading to low numbers
of goats and sheep per person. Large numbers of people in the south and
centre of Nigeria also impose a low ratio in this country.

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Most of the central belt of the continent, from the Atlantic Ocean to the
Indian, has very low ratios of small ruminants to people in addition to low
densities.

Small ruminants as a proportion of all domestic ruminants

The contribution of goats and sheep to total DRB (Figure 6) has been
calculated on the basis of the mean population weight (MPW) of each
species. The MPW is the average weight of each animal in the herd or flock
and is obtained from weights at specific ages and for different sexes.
Although there are obviously some regional differences, MPWs have been
standardized at 307 kg for camels, 206 kg for cattle, 30 kg for sheep and 18
kg for goats.
The distribution of the highest proportions (> 25 per cent) of small ruminants
in DRB is rather surprising at first sight as it coincides mainly with the humid
Gulf of Guinea and central Atlantic coast countries. The reasons for this
might be related to the better tolerance, compared to cattle, of goats and
sheep to trypanosomiasis. It is also possible that the mainly agricultural
peoples of these areas can handle small ruminants more easily than they
can cattle. It should, however, be borne in mind that overall animal numbers
in these countries are few. Mauritania.is the only pastoral country where
goats and sheep fall into the highest proportional class although Namibia
with a "modern" pastoral economy also has a high relative biomass of small
ruminants.

Figure 6 The contribution of small ruminants to total domestic

ruminant biomass in tropical Africa
Small ruminants are of considerable (15-25 per cent of DRB) importance in
the total livestock mix in most of the remaining pastoral or principally
pastoral countries. Of the two such countries that are not in this class,

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Sudan does have 14 per cent of DRB as goats and sheep. Small,
intensively cultivated countries with high goat and sheep densities also fall
into this grouping.
Lower proportional contributions (8-15 per cent) to total livestock are shown
in Ethiopia (where heavy draught oxen are extremely important) and in
Kenya and Uganda where the "cattle complex" tribes are predominant.
In most of the southern African states and in Madagascar, small ruminants
contribute very little (< 8 per cent) to livestock biomass and, taken in
combination with the two previous factors, can be seen to be relatively as
well as absolutely unimportant in this region.

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