Abstract
AbstractThe present study was undertaken to assist conservation and improvement schemes in the Sahiwal breed of cattle in Pakistan. A data set, consisting of records of 244 pure Sahiwal breeding bulls and 5247 cows, the latter representing about 80% of all recorded Sahiwal cows in Pakistan born during a period covering about 20 years, was analysed with regard to inbreeding, additive relationships, effective population size and generation intervals. Average inbreeding coefficients of 1224 cows and 49 bulls, for which at least the grandparents and great-grandsires were known, were 0·043 and 0·046, respectively. About two-thirds of the inbreeding was due to matings between animals with parents or grandparents in common. The mean additive relationship among the cows was 0·062, with within-herd averages ranging from 0·087 to 0·358. The average population size in a subdata set of recorded Sahiwal cattle from 1980 to 1984 was 1612, whereas the most likely estimate of the effective population size was about 30 animals for the same active breeding population. The study indicated the immediate need for an active conservation programme whereby the Sahiwal subpopulations of India and Kenya also should be involved.
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