ZEBU-CROSS CATTLE

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3801, 28 August 1936, Page 11

ZEBU-CROSS CATTLE

SUITABLE FOR NORTHERN AUSTRALIA. In tropical Australia there are certain deticiences in the soil which naturally are translated to the pastures and, in addition, the rains are concentrated over a few months in the summer when rank growth of pastures takes place. The nutriment is bleached out of the grasses in the autumn and consequently only innutritious straw is left for animals to feed on. These factors cause a serious deterioration in English cattle grazing in such areas owing to the protein deficiency in the winter months added to a deficiency in phosphorous and calcium throughout the year. There are other factors generally found in tropical regions which adversely affect English breeds, the principal among these being the heat and insect pests, such as tick and buffalo fly. ■ln order, therefore, to evolve a type that would not only be immune to the pests and climatic conditions of Australia’s tropical pastures, but also produce good beef, a Queensland syndicate of cattle breeders decided some three years ago to import Zebu cattle from U.S.A., following on a recommendation from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

The Zebu is essentially a tropical animal, very hardy and able to stand rigours of climate. It has a greasy skin secretion which is repellant to ecto-parasites and the animal is resistant to tick fever. Under the short hair with which it is coated the Zebu has a smooth black skin, similar to that of a negro, which extends over those portions of the surface where the sun strikes. This provides a peculiarly efficient heat-resisting mechanism, particularly iri high temperatures. The beast has a curious hump just above its shoulders, but with cross-breeding this becomes almost non-existent. It resembles a Jersey as regards coat, colour and head but is much bulkier, the larger - types weighing as much as 1500 lbs. There is no doubt that English I breeds of cattle are superior to Zebu but where conditions are markedly I unsuitable to the former this superiority is nullified. It is hoped that an infusion of Zebu blood into the English strains will kive the resistance and stamina necesary to overcome the adverse tropical conditions. The object of the syndicate appears to be the eventual building up of a herd of 1/8 Zebus, but whether it will be found necessary later on to increase the amount of Zebu blood in the main herd will depend to a large extent on the resistance to disease and tropical effects which those 1/8 Zebus show.

Large importations of Zebu cattle have been made in recent years into Brazil where they have been crossed with existing native cattle,- Herefords and Shorthorns and satisfactory improvements in the standard of the herds have resulted.

So far as the quality of the meat is concerned Zebu cross-bred beef is probably slightly inferior to that from English cattle owing to the darkerflesh and concentration of fat outside the meat tissues but these features should not be a serious disadvantage. It appears, however, that the beef from the cross-bred animal has qualities which enable it to be more resistant to bacterial deterioration during transit in cool storage overseas.

The result of the experiment now being tried out in tropical Queensland will be watched with the utmost interest, not only by those interested in the beef industry, but also by students of genetics and all who wish to see the standard of our cattle improved. Writing on the experiment, under date 2nd June, 1936, Mr C. W. Wright, of “Waverley,” St Lawrence, Qld., one of the syndicate referred to earlier in this article, states inter alia, “It is much too soon to give a worthwhile opinion on its success or otherwise, but we know definitely that up to the age of 12 months the Zebu cross-halfbred calves, Hereford or Shorthorn are on an average 50 lbs. heavier than either Hereford or Shorthorn calves of the same age running in the same paddock.”