Nguni cattle

The Nguni cattle breed is special to Southern Africa. They descend from Sanga cattle that evolved from the first tamed Aurochsen cattle of Near Eastern origin, at least eight thousand years ago. The North African herdsmen crossed their cattle with different races of North African Aurochsen over millenia, to introduce adaptations and desired features. [1] This accounts for the genetic distinctness and variability of African cattle breeds across the continent.[2] Some 3500 years ago breeders in Ethiopia and north east Africa began to crossbreed their cattle with Indian Zebu bulls, creating various breeds of 'Sanga' cattle. These are widespread all over the Sahara and in east and southern Africa. Thus some Zebuine traits were introduced, marking the morphology of Sanga cattle. Nguni cattle diverged from the Afrikaner cattle some 950 years ago. The colour schemes of Nguni cattle can already be found on depiction of cattle on ancient Egyptian murals. To state that the Nguni cattle are "A hybrid of different Indian and later European cattle breeds" is thus somewhat misleading. They were certainly developed by Nguni people from (north) east African origins in the course of the southward migration of Bantu pastoralists. Sanga cattle such as the Afrikaner had been introduced by Khoi herdsmen from northeast Africa before the Bantu immigration already. The immigration of the Nguni people came after that of the Sotho-Tswana people, who developed their own breeds of Sanga cattle. The pastoral Bantu people of East and southern Africa have a rich cultural symbolism, and cultural institutions centered on cattle, that they share with Hamitic pastoralists of east and northeast Africa. The variations of colour deliberately bred in different strains of Nguni cattle are related to such cultural symbolism. Due to the long presence of Europeans on the southern and east African coasts, it is likely that some admixture of European cattle has occurred. If one looks closely at Nguni cattle, one can observe, that their heads are generally longer than those of European cattle breeds and lack their 'paedo-morphic' stunted head forms. Likewise the shape of the horns of Nguni cattle preserve the curvatures typical for different strains of African cattle, as comparisons with Red and White Fulani cattle or the Watussi may show. The Nguni have the small humps of African Auerochsen, not the more voluminous of the Zebu. The Nguni cattle breed is medium-sized and adapted to grazing on the highveld. Their strong heritage of African Auerochsen, with the later crossing in of Zebus, created the basis for the uniquely adapted Nguni breed. It may have originated in South Africa, distinct from other autochthonous ancient breeds. Its high symbolic significance in Nguni culture is connected to the long history of the breed.

A Nguni cow herd of the Makhathini ecotype

Characteristics

Nguni cattle are known for their fertility and resistance to diseases,[3] being the favourite breed amongst the local Bantu-speaking people of southern Africa (South Africa, Swaziland, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Angola). They are characterised by their multicoloured skin, which can present many different patterns, but their noses are always black-tipped. They are a principal form of Sanga cattle, which originated as hybrids of Zebu and Taurine cattle in East Africa. DNA analyses have shown that they are a combination of Zebu (Bos indicus) and Bos taurus cattle of Near Eastern origin with some other breeds of local cattle bred from Zebu.[4] They are characterized by low cervicothoracic humps, in front of the front legs, instead of the high thoracic humps of pure Zebu. Besides the various colour patterns, these animals present a variety of horn shapes. All different combinations were catalogued in the beginning of the century by a South African herdmaster. This work inspired the Nguni Cattle Register, a compilation of terms to describe in full a Nguni cow or bull. The cattle are medium-sized, with bulls weighing between 500 and 600 kg,[5] while cows weigh between 300 and 400 kg.

Origins

The ancestors of Nguni cattle were brought by the Nguni (Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, Swazi people, etc.), during their migration to southern Africa.[6] Since then, these animals have played an important social and economic role in the development of these societies and are used as a bride's lobola. The number of animals held by a village or individual determined much of their importance to the rest of the world. King Shaka of the Zulus understood this cultural and economic importance and seized control of the Nguni herds on his dominions. Shaka also bred the Ngunis according to colour patterns to produce hides for the several regiments of his army, henceforward recognized by them. His elite personal guard was recognised by pure white, from animals of the royal herd, the inyonikayiphumuli.

Coat colour

Nguni cattle may have many different colours and patterns, such as white, brown, golden yellow, black, dappled, or spotty.

See also

• Nguni shield

References

1. Stock, Frauke & Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, Genetics and African Cattle Domestication, Afr Archaeol Rev (2013) 30:51–72, DOI 10.1007/s10437-013-9131-6
2. Pitt, Daniel, Natalia Sevane, Ezequiel L. Nicolazzi, David E. MacHugh, Stephen D. E. Park, Licia Colli, Rodrigo Martinez, Michael W. Bruford, Pablo Orozco‐ter Wengel, “Domestication of cattle: Two or three events?”, in: Evolutionary Applications – Special edition, 28th June, 2018 published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.12674
3. The Nguni Cattle Project. Archived at The Wayback Machine
4. Nguni Cattle at Embryoplus Archived 2006-02-23 at the Wayback Machine
5. Nguni Facts at www.nguni.info
6. "The archaeological evidence for the appearance of pastoralism and farming in southern Africa". journals.plos.org. Retrieved 2018-06-14.