The Zhongwei (Chung-wei) is a breed of
goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
from the
Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region
Ningxia (,; , ; alternately romanized as Ninghsia), officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR), is an autonomous region in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in 1 ...
and
Gansu Province
Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province.
The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibeta ...
of
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. It lives on arid desert steppes, and is adapted to a diet of salty and sandy plants and shrubs. It is used primarily for the production of
kid pelts,
and secondarily for
cashmere fiber.
The breed has low genetic variability, likely due to the historic selection of pelt production traits. It is closely related to the
Funiu White
The Funiu Mountains, also known by their Chinese name Funiu Shan, are a mountain range in southern Shanxi and western Henan provinces in China.
Geography
The Funiu are an eastern extension of the Qins, running south of the Yellow River after it ...
,
Hexi Cashmere
The Hexi Cashmere goat breed from desert and semidesert regions of the North Gansu province of China is used primarily for the production of cashmere fiber. About 60% of the goats are white. The Hexi cashmere can be found in the Gansu, Qinghai and ...
,
Luliang Black, and
Taihang
The Taihang Mountains () are a Chinese mountain range running down the eastern edge of the Loess Plateau in Shanxi, Henan and Hebei provinces. The range extends over from north to south and has an average elevation of . The principal peak is M ...
breeds.
Males weigh 39 kg on average, and females weigh 24.5 kg on average. Both males and females grow spiral horns.
The fur color is white, and occasionally black.
Uses
Pelts
Kids are killed when they are 35 days old for their white, curly pelts.
Zhongwei reach sexual maturity at 5–6 months of age, and are typically mated at 18 months of age with a kidding percentage of 104-106%.
Cashmere
Although they are mainly used for kid pelts, Zhongwei can be used for cashmere production. Males grow 140 g of cashmere on average and females grow 120 g on average, at a cashmere percentage of 25%, length of 7.0 cm and 12.5 microns.
The quality of fur produced has declined, however, due to degradation of the land they graze on.
See also
*
List of goat breeds
Goats - farm animals of domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') species, small ruminants - are widespread throughout the world and are used in almost any natural and climatic conditions, even those where other productive animals cannot live. Different bre ...
References
Goatskin-producing goat breeds
Fiber-producing goat breeds
Goat breeds originating in China
Goat breeds
Cashmere wool
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