Butana and Kenana breeds are part of the shorthorned

Zebu The zebu (; ''Bos indicus'' or ''Bos taurus indicus''), sometimes known in the plural as indicine cattle or humped cattle, is a species or subspecies of domestic cattle originating in the Indian sub-continent. Zebu are characterised by a fatty h ...

group of breeds of eastern Africa. What makes them unusual is that they are dairy breeds, unlike other breeds like the

Boran Boran (also spelled Buran, Middle Persian: ; New Persian: پوران‌دخت, ''Pūrāndokht'') was Sasanian queen (or ''banbishn'') of Iran from 630 to 632, with an interruption of some months. She was the daughter of king (or '' shah'') Khos ...

Baggara The Baggāra ( ar, البَقَّارَة "heifer herder") or Chadian Arabs are a nomadic confederation of people of mixed Arab and Arabized indigenous African ancestry, inhabiting a portion of the Sahel mainly between Lake Chad and the Nile ri ...

, Fung, etc. The Butana breed is found to the east of

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

in central Sudan, in the Butana region. The Atbarah Research Station of the Sudanese Department of Agriculture in Atbarah has a special mission for preserving and improving the Butana breed. The Kenana breed is found just south of Butana, mainly in the region between the

Blue Nile The Blue Nile (; ) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the water to ...

and the White Nile.

Description

The Butana cattle are a deep red color, like the

Red Sindhi Red Sindhi cattle are the most popular of all Zebu dairy breeds. The breed originated in the Sindh province of Pakistan, they are widely kept for milk production across Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and other countries. They have be ...

and

Sahiwal Sahiwal ( Punjabi and ur, ), formerly known as Montgomery, is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 21st largest city of Pakistan by population and the administrative capital of both Sahiwal District and Sahiwal Division. Sahiwal is appro ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. While somewhat smaller than the Sahiwal, the Butana is almost impossible to distinguish from the Red Sindhi. It is probable that the ancestral stock of the Red Sindhi was a principal component of the

cattle brought from medieval India to Sudan over a thousand years ago to form the basis of the Butana breed, but that they are so identical after all this time is very surprising. The Kenana cattle are probably derived from the Butana, they are the same deep red as calves, but turn white when they are adults. The size, shape and milk production of both the Butana and the Kenana are almost identical to the Red Sindhi. This means they are by far the best dairy breeds in Africa, and tied for second place with the Red Sindhi after the Sahiwal as the best dairy breeds among all the

breeds in the world.

External links

Production and reproduction characteristics of Butana and Kenana cattle of the Sudan
Cattle breeds {{cattle-stub Fauna of Pakistan Red cattle

Description

See also

External links