It’s not horn vs hornless but Cattle lovers Vs Commercial
rearers !!
On
Mattu Pongal day, I had posted on ‘cows of Triplicane’ beautifully decorated
and cared for .. .. Nagoji rao street in Thiruvallikkeni housed hundreds of
them a couple of decades ago.. .. cows of various hues, while, black, brown –
tall, short, and more .. ….and all of them had horns, though short ones.
South Sudan is a
landlocked country in East-Central Africa. It gained independence from the
Republic of the Sudan in 2011, making it the most recent sovereign state with
widespread recognition. Its capital and largest city is Juba. The country is
bordered by Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Congo and Central African
republic. It includes the vast swamp
region of the Sudd, formed by the White Nile and known locally as the Bahr al
Jabal meaning "Mountain Sea”. Following the First Sudanese Civil War, the
Southern Sudan Autonomous Region was formed in 1972 and lasted until 1983. A
second Sudanese civil war soon broke out, ending in 2005 with the Comprehensive
Peace Agreement. It has suffered ethnic violence and endured a civil war since
2013.
Back to cows – I could
never imagine that cows (bulls too) could be without horns too. On a careful
scrutiny on roads, observe a couple of cows were found to be so. Read that there are only a few cattle breeds in existence that
have no horns naturally but now American scientists are developing the trait
within Holstein cattle. Cattle have now been made hornless through genetic
editing, with no apparent side effects, researchers say.
In the United States,
roughly 80 percent of all calves raised for dairy and 25 percent of beef cattle
get their horns removed every year — that's 4.8 million and 8.75 million head
of cattle, respectively. Dehorning helps protect
animals and their handlers from accidental injuries, (don’t believe in this sugar coated statement, it is only
for the benefit of man and much against the cattle) but it's not only
costly, it's painful to animals, and numerous animal advocacy groups have
campaigned for either mandatory anesthesia during dehorning or a complete end
to the practice. "Dehorning animals is a bloody and painful process that
no one likes to do," notes William Muir, a professor of genetics at Purdue
University.
Naturally hornless cattle
do exist, a trait known as "polled" that is common in beef breeds
such as Angus but rare in dairy breeds such as Holstein. Farmers have tried
using naturally polled Holstein sires to breed dairy cows, but the offspring
don't produce as much milk as their horned counterparts. As human reacts
wherever it is required to be advantageous to them, researchers
genetically tweaked clones they created of dairy cattle. Three calves were
euthanized shortly after birth due to problems commonly associated with cloning
techniques, but two other calves survived, males named Spotigy and Buri that
are healthy and are now more than 10 months old. (credit Popular Science
popsci.com)
Horn removal through gene
editing is a win-win both for the animal and for the farmer, says Muir, who did
not take part in this research. "These findings show that you can take
highly desirable genes from animals and move them to other members of their
species," he told Popular Science. "One could achieve the same
results with natural breeding, but gene editing greatly speeds up the process,
reducing the time it takes to accomplish the goal from centuries to
years." Genetic editing may also lead to other animal improvements, such
as resistance to various diseases, notes Willard Eyestone, a research associate
professor of reproductive biology and biotechnology at Virginia Tech, who did
not participate in this study. Other beneficial traits may include tailless
pigs, Muir notes.
.. .. what would starkly
separate USA / Europe with developing Nations in Asia or that of Africa is the
latter’s inclination and oneness with nature.
Here is something on the South
Sudanese tribe who use cows as currency, drink straight from the udder and even
SHOWER under the animals... but never eat them.
MailOnline has interesting photos of a
young boy squirting milk into his mouth straight from a cow's udder and
another lovingly caresses a bull's horn - meet the cattle-revering Mundari
tribe of South Sudan. Photographer Mario Gerth, 42, captured their daily lives
in this spectacular set of images after spending three months living among
them. The nomadic tribe wander the plains of the Sahel region of the country
along the Nile river and use cattle as currency.
These cattle
are simply class apart and adorable ! South Sudan is the world's
youngest country, and it has witnessed immense change since gaining independence
in 2011. The promise of peace has given way to civil war, and tribal rifts
continue to run deep, permeating political affairs. Over two million people
have been displaced according to the UN, and tens of thousands killed. Amid the
tumult is the Mundari, a people who would rather get on with doing what they do
best: looking after their cattle. It would be hard to find a more dedicated
group of herdsmen than the tribe who live on the banks of the Nile, north of
the capital Juba. Their entire lifestyle is geared around caring for their
prized livestock, the Ankole-Watusi, a horned breed known as "the cattle
of kings."
These cows grow up to
eight feet tall, and are worth as much as $500 each. It's no wonder the Mundari
view these animals as their most valuable assets (or that they guard them with
with machine guns). In these places there exists a great bonhomie aka
relationship between man and beast. The animals are important to them and are
part of their livelihood. Perhaps this is in part due to the function
and symbolism of the Ankole-Watusi. Each bovine is so highly prized that it is
rarely killed for its meat. Instead, it is a walking larder, a pharmacy, a
dowry, even a friend. It is clear that cow is a resource maintaining not just a
people, but a way of life. The Mundari, tall and muscular, may "look like
bodybuilders," says Zaidi, "but their diet is pretty much milk and
yogurt. That's it." Other bodily fluids have more unlikely uses. Mundari
men will squat under streams of cow urine, both an antiseptic, Zaidi suggests,
and as an aesthetic choice -- the ammonia in the urine color the Mundari's hair
orange. Meanwhile dung is piled high
into heaps for burning, the fine peach-colored ash used as another form of
antiseptic and sunscreen by the herdsmen, shielding them from the 115-degree
heat.
The cows, adds Zaidi, are
among the world's most pampered. He says he witnessed Mundari massaging their
animals twice a day. The ash from dung fires, as fine as talcum powder, is
rubbed into the cattle's skin and used as bedding, while ornamental tassels
swat flies from the eyes of the herd's most prestigious beasts. The Mundari sleep among their cattle,
"literally two feet away from their favorites" says Zaidi, and guard
them at the point of a gun. It's not unreasonable for the tribe to go to these
lengths. "Rustlers are a huge issue for them," the photographer
explains. "Their cattle are a form of currency and status symbol, and form
a key part of a family's pension or dowry. Since the end of the civil war,
thousands of men have returned to South Sudan looking for wives, which has
pushed up the 'bride price', making these animals even more precious and
increasing lethal cattle raids." Such raids have been deadly for the
Mundari, but the effects of war are manifold. Landmines make finding fresh
pasture a dangerous lottery. When he visited, Zaidi says the tribe were using a
small island in the Nile as a safe haven. The conflict, he adds, has the
paradoxical effect of preserving their way of life.
"The ongoing war in
South Sudan has cut off the Mundari tribe from the rest of the world," he
says. "They don't venture into the town, they stay in the bush, and it's
why their unique way of life endures." Zaidi says the Mundari have no
taste for war and "their guns are not to kill anyone but to protect their
herd." All the Mundari want to do is take care of their livestock, he
argues, "and they will protect them at all costs."
Perhaps that explains the lives of so called advanced
modern men and those who live loving and being with nature but called poor or
underdeveloped !
In my recent
pilgrimage to Dwaraka was so engrossed by the Girs cows & bulls of
Saurashtra region that had long horns – a separate post on them sooner *
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
18th Jan 2019.
No comments:
Post a Comment