Promising future for Shaka’s cattle

This article focused on Nguni cattle, and why the breed should not have been ignored for as long as it was.

There has been a strong revival of interest in Nguni cattle, the cattle of Shaka and Dingane, after being largely ignored for many years.

Today, more and more farmers are realising just how much promise these cattle hold for the South African beef industry, particularly in the eastern coastal regions of the country where they originated.

In contrast to exotic breeds, the Nguni has the ability to adapt to conditions like those on the east coast because, through natural selection, it has developed a certain degree of resistance to disease such as heartwater, redwater, nagana and ophthalmia.

TICK RESISTANCE

The Department of Agriculture and Water Supply has built up its own herd of Nguni cattle at the Animal and Dairy Science Research Institute at Loskop, and is conducting research on the breed.

One important aspect of the work has been the testing of the herd for tick resistance, says researcher MM Scholtz. It was found that the herd, comprising 92 cows, 33 in-calf heifers, 38 young heifers and 43 calves, showed vast differences in tick resistance among the progeny of the 10 bulls now being used.