Vol. XII. No. 303. 



THE AGRICULTURAL XEWS 



391 



LIVE STOCK NOTES. 



THE GREVY ZEBRA AS A DOMESTIO 

 ANIMAL. 



The Grevy zebra {Eijvi/s Grerii) is one of the largest 

 of the zebras, measuring between 13 and 1-t hands and 

 weighing about 800 to 900 Bb. at inaiurity. It is also 

 by far the handsomest of its kind, having striking markings 

 and a great deal of 'tinish'. 



This zebra inhabits the highlands of Abyssinia and 

 Somaliland, and is apparently comparatively rare. 



How the I'nited States Department of Agriculture 

 came in 1904 to direct their attentions tmvards the pos.sibility 

 of its domestication and hybridization, and the interesting 

 results of the work which was subsequently taken up, are 

 described in a paper by (i. M. Rommel, Chief of the Animal 

 Husbandry Division of the Department, published in the 

 American Jlreeders' Maga:i?ie (.July-September 1913). 



Having obtained one of these animals in 1904, an 

 attempt was made in the following year to cross it direct with 

 mares, but without results. In f«ct the zebra evinced 

 a positive aversion to mares, even his own size, and when 

 turned out with one of them in the same paddock rushed at 

 the mare and would undoubtedly have killed her had he not 

 been driven back. The Bureau reached the conclusion that 

 a zebra was like a jack, and if he had not been raised with 

 horses might show some disinclination to mate with mares, 

 or even refuse to do so at all. 



Therefore the Department decided to establish a stud of 

 zebras. But misfortune dogged their tracts; for of the four 

 female zebras imported, three died, and the remaining one 

 ■when bred to the fkst jack-zebra — named Dan — gave birth to 

 a dead foe.1. 



Along with the first female imported in 1907 another 

 jack-zebra was brought. This animal was named -Jerry. 

 Jerry had been kept away from the female zebra and out of 

 her sight as much as possible. He was a young animal 

 when received, and it was thought that he had probably 

 never covered a female zebra and would therefore be more 

 likely to cover a mare. He was tested. Strangely enough 

 he did not show any of Dan's antipathy to mares; in fact 

 they all became very good friends, but no mating re.sulted. 

 It was a platonHc friendship. The mares came in heat 

 regularly and Jerry manifested a certain amount of sexual 

 excitement; he would mount but, for some peculiar reason, 

 would not complete the act. 



After some months of these trials without results, the 

 female zebra was bred to Jerry. Whether this would cause 

 him to refuse to cover asses was of little consequence, as the 

 chance of getting a zebra foal could not be lost. The female 

 was bred; and Jerry was then tried on the asses: strange to 

 say, he covered them without objection. 'Why Jerry should 

 refuse to cover mares when he had probably never mated 

 with his own species, but would readily go to asses after he 

 had mated with a female Grevy zebra, is a question in 

 animal psychology the writer does not presume to answer.' 



Copulation being readily performed by the zebra with 

 female donkeys (though in the case of Dan only in seclusion), 

 it was of course easy to collect semen to impregnate mares 

 artificially. A female hybrid was foaled in June 1912. 



It has been found that the zebra semen does not contain 

 relatively so many spermatazoa as that of the stallion, and 

 this may account for much of the diflicultj that was 

 experienced in breeding by artificial means. 



The mare-hybrid is described as being more like 

 a horse in appearance and manners; whereas the ass-hybrids 



resemble the donkey and are exces.5ively stubborn. The 

 mare-hybrid has the alert, spirited air of a mule, which 

 one would expect from a high-spirited, well bred mare. 

 In breeding mules from jacks one depends on the 

 mare for finish and quality. With the Grevy zebra one gets 

 it from the sire as well. Therefore it would appear possible 

 to breed a finer class of mule from the Gfevy zebra than from 

 jacks, using mares of poor as well as of superior quality. 



In conclusion the author states that in these experiments 

 it was found possible to confirm Ewart's classic experiments 

 with the Burchell zebra, in Scotland, in regard to the much- 

 discussed question of telegony; The influence of one 

 impregnation of a female has little, if any eflfect, on the 

 characteristics of subsequent progeny. 



EUROPEAN ANIMALS IN BRAZIL 



The essential factors which have to be considered in 

 the acclimatization of imported domestic animals in hot 

 countries is discussed very thoroughly in a paper 

 recently issued by L' Association Scientifique International 

 d' Agronomie Coloniale et Tropicale. The paper deals more 

 particularly with the question of acclimatization in the State 

 of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The climate of this State is sub-tropical. 

 The mean annual temperature is 17 '7° C. with a maximum 

 in summer of 38° C, and a minimum in winter (restricted to 

 only one or two districts) of 1 to 2 degrees below zero. 



The native race,-, of animals which occur in this country 

 are not, strictly speaking, indigenous, but are the descendants 

 of imported animals brought by the early Portuguese colonists. 



Although the State is well adapted for cattle grazing, it 

 is essentially a pig country. As in the case of the other 

 classes of live stock, the pigs are descended from Portuguese 

 breeds and are characterized b}- a perfect ada-ptation to 

 olimate. They differ from European races in that they arfr 

 thinner and therefore more suited for thriving in a hot 

 country. 



Turning now to the main subject of the paper, the 

 author divides the factors of acclimatization into two groups: 

 (1) meteorological factors — temperature, humidity, electrical 

 conditions, light-intensity, wind; and (2) biological factors — 

 vegetation, animal parasites, including ticks and piro- 

 plasms. Reference has already been made above to 

 temperature conditions. As regards humiditj-, the State 

 presents two distinct periods, a wet season from November 

 to March, and a dry season from April to October. It is 

 during the wet season that the animals should naturally be 

 in their best condition; but unfortunately, it is during this 

 time that parasitic insects are most numerous. 



In dealing with the biological factors (after describing 

 the indigenous fodder grasses) an account is given of the 

 diseases that have to be contended with. These include 

 symptomatic charbon, mal de caderas, and Texas fever. It is 

 stated in connexion with mal de caderas that this disease 

 occurs generally in a sporadic fashion, suddenly appearing 

 and as quickly disappearing. The chief factor in the accli- 

 matization of animals is their successful immunization against 

 piroplasms, and this subject is dealt with at considerable 

 length. The Trypan blue treatment has proved successful. 



The European breeds which seem to have the best 

 chances of becoming immune to disease and adapted to the 

 climatic conditions are as follows: horses — Arabs and Anglo 

 Arabs from the southwest of France; cattle — Friesland, 

 Dutch, the Schwyz breed from Switzerland, the Limosin, and 

 the Jer.scy and Guernsey; donkeys — from the south of Italy; 

 goats — the Toggenburg and Flemish breeds; pigs— Berkshire 

 and large black; poultry — Bresse, black Opriugtor.s, and 

 Minorca? . 



