Muturu, Kuri, Keteku: 3 Nigerian cattle breeds about to extinct

If deliberate efforts are not put in place, some cattle breeds indigenous to Nigeria would extinct in few years.

A joint paper, written by two academics at the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State has revealed the endangered breeds in an in-depth research for their conservation and management to prevent extinction.

The two researchers, D. S. Gwaza and O. M. Momoh of Department of Animal Breeding and Physiology, of the University, in their abstract, reviewed
the Nigerian cattle breeds, their productivity and made a case for their conservation and management.

They also proposed an action plan for the Nigerian government.

“The indigenous cattle breeds of Nigeria have short calving interval, are hardy and trypanotolerant, known for early maturity with low mortality rate for total herd (2% and 4.7% for Muturu and Keteku respectively),” the paper reads in part.

While the Kuri has high potentials for milk production and can calve up to twelve times in life time, it also has enormous contribution to source of income to many cattle rearers in Nigeria.

Reading further, the research says, ‘The indigenous cattle breeds of Nigeria are endangered. The Muturu, N’dama and Keteku are endangered due to extensive uncontrolled crossbreeding with exotic breeds.

“There is also waning interest among farmers in the use of intact indigenous breeds. The Kuri and Biu cattle breeds are endangered due primarily to environment factors.”

The research also revealed how the Nigerian civil war also had a significant effect on the elimination of some indigenous cattle breeds especially the forest breeds. The endangered indigenous cattle breed can be conserved by the In-situ techniques.

The cost of maintenance of the insitu preservation is often high, but it is to be preferred because it is less technically involving and can be well managed given adequate technologies and funds.

Proferring further solutions, the researchers said,
“The inbreeding effect and maintenance of natural habitat can be reduced by use of appropriate mating system and preservation of the original environment.

“The live conservation techniques can be organised into park with wild life for revenue generation.

“Rural farming communities can also be organised to form National indigenous cattle breed ownership Scheme (NICABROS), as a community based conservation management technology are action plans that are propose for insitu conservation of Nigerian endangered cattle breeds,” it concluded.

Nigerian indeginous and endangered cattle species

Muturu

The breed is a variety of West African Shorthorn, a larger Savannah-type and a Dwarf-Forest type, which appear to have evolved through adaptation to the humid forest environment.

Kuri

The Kuri is a breed of the humpless longhorn group of cattle. The humpless longhorn grouping relates them to the N’dama cattle. They are used for meat, milk and work. They are intolerant of heat, sunlight, and can not stand long periods of drought. They are good swimmers and spend much of their time in Lake Chad region. Despite their heavy weight, ranging anywhere from 800 to 1100 pounds, some believe what helps their swimming abilities is their unusual horns. The breed has been living around the Lake Chad for hundreds of years and it has been difficult introducing them to another environment. An atrempt to relocate them between 1953 and 1957 was a massive failure.

Keteku

This breed is found in western Nigeria and well distributed in Kwara, Oyo, Niger and Ondo States.

It takes it’s origin from a stabilised cross of Savannah Shorthorn (Muturu) of the south and White Fulani of the north of Nigeria, with some input from N’Dama Longhorn.

Report by Dayo Emmanuel

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