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Array ( [1] => <p>April 2006 near Kolo Manga, Niger, about 7km from the old lake Chad shore.This animal appears to have some traits of the famous kuri cattle but as the horns are not massively bulbous and the locality is dry--purebred kuri have a strong preference for fresh grass--it is presumably a hybrid. Several authors refer to kuri x zebu crosses in the Komadugu Yobe area and it may well be one of these, perhaps what Mason (1951) calls the Jotko or Jotkorma variety and Blench (1999) the Jetkoram.</p> [2] => <p>October, 2001 Akadaney or possibly Aderbissinat, central Niger. These beautiful cattle are intimately associated with the WoDaaBe who carefully manage their reproduction to ensure a breed that is highly adapted to the capricious Sahelian environment. See Saverio Krätli's writings (2008 & 2010) on how this is achieved and yet how it has been overlooked by livestock breeding programmes.</p> [3] => <p>June, 2011, Zwedru, eastern Liberia. I did not obtain any information from the herder about the origin of these cows parked in an open space in the city, but they were undoubtedly transported down, on foot, truck or both from either Mali or northern Côte d'Ivoire.</p> [4] => <p>March, 2013, northern Nimba, Liberia. Part of a diverse looking herd just trekked over from Guinea. This and following zebu were called simply  "Mali cows" by their drovers in contra-distinction to the humpless "Guinea cows" that out-numbered them in the herd.</p> [5] => <p>March, 2013, northern Nimba, Liberia. Another "Mali cow" which could well have come from Guinea.</p> [6] => <p>September, 2012, Montserrado County, central Liberia. These diminutive cattle stand less than 1 m at the hips and are rather rare and mainly found in the southeast of the country. They are typically left unsupervised to roam freely around villages and the surrounding farm bush. Where found, there tend to be only one or two animals per settlement. They are kept for their meat but are only slaughtered on special occasions such as important funerals.</p> [7] => <p>November 2010, Grand Gedeh, Liberia. This heifer was brought over from Côte d'Ivoire where the owner had sent his Liberian cows for safe-keeping during the war years. Whether it is a Liberia Dwarf or an Ivoirien Lagunaire is probably impossible to say but is clearly in the Dwarf West African Shorthorn category. This is a good illustration of the importance of understanding the genealogical geographies of individual cattle before assigning names to breeds. The owner planned to breed this cow with his father's larger bull of a different breed shown next.</p> [8] => <p>November 2010, Grand Gedeh, Liberia. This bull was called a "Guinea cow" by its owner and seems to have something of the N'Dama race which hails from the Fouta-Djalon mountains. I know nothing about its interesting scissor marking but don't think it was acquired locally.</p> [9] => <p>June, 2011, Zuolay, Nimba County, Liberia. I am not sure if this bull was being kept locally or was on the move: it was in a small herd which included several calves in the grounds of a school. Given its body shape, I expect it was a resident but it is also this characteristic (plus the horn length and form) which makes me unsure whether it is pure N'Dama.</p> [10] => <p>March, 2013, northern Nimba, Liberia. Part of a large herd of diverse looking animals just trekked over from Guinea and on-route, still on the hoof, to Ganta, but probably from there onwards to Monrovia by truck. More of a classic looking N'Dama than the preceding images.</p> [11] => <p>March, 2013, northern Nimba, Liberia. Part of a small herd that had just come over from Guinea.</p> [12] => <p>March, 2013, northern Nimba, Liberia. Part of the same large herd just trekked over from Guinea (but could have originated from Mali) that had N'Damas and a few Sudanese Fulani as well as this different looking bull. </p> [13] => <p>November 2001 near Dakoro, central Niger. A poor photo of some of the milking cows of my doctoral research site which are called Dalleji by the Hausaphone inhabitants. This is intriguing. For Nigeria, Blench (1999) lists a Daleeji with a question mark as the same as the Azawak under a 'doubtful breed' category. Along the Niger river, Ayantunde (2007) describe a short-horned zebu Djelli breed. Bonte (1969) describes the Diali as a variety of the "zébu peul nigérien" found along the Niger river but uncommon in its pure state in the Ader Doutchi, where it is more often found crossed with the Bororodji (Bororo). Mainet (1965) indicates the Azawak as the only short-horned zebu of the Maradi region. There may be an interesting breed gradation to explore in regional geographical perspective.</p> [14] => <p>July, 2002 near Dakoro, central Niger. The same Dalleji variety are also used as draft animals at my doctoral research site. At the time I only examined animal and equipment investment and loan patterns and not the characteristics of the harnessed cows.</p> [15] => <p>November-December, 2013, near Sangarédi, Boké Prefecture, Guinea. The transhumant cattle were starting to come back and there was a notable variation in the shape and disposition of their horns. According to Saikhou Baldé (1939), there are numerous superstitions about the form of horns among the Fulbe in the Fouta-Djalon. To what extent these are still held is not known.</p> [16] => <p>November, 2013, near Sangarédi, Boké Prefecture, Guinea. According to Figarol (1907), these animals are called "toumbouroundj" in Fulfulde. Mornet (1957) reports that this trait is particularly common in the Fouta-Djalon and speculated that this genetic mutation, as well as scurs (loose horns) which is also common here, are favoured by humidity and lack of minerals. He notes that hornless females have a reputation among the Fulbe as good milk cows, but this had not been verified. An earlier observer (Aldigé, 1912) also mentioned this reputation as well the particular 'veneration' given to them by their owners.</p> )
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