ORIGINS
Years of worldwide research by the
C.S.I.R.O. have found a breed capable of improving beef production by combining high genetic potential for growth, reproduction and carcass quality with high resistance to nutritional and climatic stresses, parasites and disease. The C.S.I.R.O. and a consortium of cattlemen introduced the Boran from Zambia into Australia in 1990. It is the only purebred African Zebu
(bos Indicus) in Australia.
The Boran was originally developed by the Borana people of southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya. They selected their cattle for the ability to produce enough milk to allow man, cow and calf to survive, despite regular feed and water shortages. Non-productive animals were eaten. This form of selection, which differentiates the Boran from Indian Zebu breeds, developed a breed with high reproductive rates even under adverse conditions. The cattle also had to have a docile temperament, a strong herding instinct and a powerful desire to protect their young from predators. Other desirable attributes, including high resistance to parasites, diseases, heat stress and shortages of feed and water, are the result of hundreds of generations of natural selection in the stressful environment of their homeland. European ranchers in Kenya in the 1920s found the Boran cattle more productive than their purebred and crossbred European cattle. They set about improving the beef confirmation and developed what was later call the "improved"
Boran.
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