The West African Dwarf or Djallonké is an African

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

or group of breeds of

domestic sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to ...

. It is the dominant breed of

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

and

Central Africa Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries accordin ...

. This breed is primarily raised for

meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...

. The Cameroon or Cameroon Dwarf is a breed within this group.Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016)
''Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding''
(sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. .

Characteristics

The West African Dwarf is generally white or piebald, the front half being black and the back half white. However, skewbald (tan on white) and the black belly pattern are found, and the Kirdi type are specially selected to be entirely black. Rams weigh approximately , have a well-developed throat ruff and are usually horned. The horns are wide at the base, curve backwards, outwards and then forwards again, with a maximum of one and a half coils. Ewes weigh about and are usually polled (hornless), but may have slender short horns. The ears are short and pendulous, the neck is long and slender, the chest is deep, the legs are short, the back is long and dished, higher at the withers than at the tail-head, and the tail reaches the hocks. On average, ewes produce 1.15 to 1.50 lambs per lambing. This breed grows slowly as evaluated in Nigeria in the last 1970s. The overall growth rates from 0–90, 91–150 and 151–350 days old were 74, 49 and 34 g/day, respectively. This breed is also highly tolerant of trypanosome. This breed is thought to go into oestrus throughout the year.

Cameroon sheep

The

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

is a hair sheep which it sheds yearly in the spring. Ewes can raise two lamb crops per year. Their most common color is brown with a black belly, head, and legs. Cameroon sheep are more likely accept their newborn lamb than other sheep breeds do which makes them great mothers.

Distribution

The West African Dwarf sheep is found in West Africa, its range extending from Senegal to Chad, Gabon, Cameroon and the Republic of the Congo. It is adapted for life in humid forested areas, sub-humid areas and

savannahs A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient li ...

. The Kirdi or Poulfouli is a wholly black variant found in northern Cameroon and southwestern Chad.

References

{{reflist, 45em, refs= {{cite journal , trans-title=High degree of trypanotolerance in dwarf Djallonké sheep and goats in the southern Guinean area of Togo. Comparison with trypanotolerant cattle , title=Haut degré de tolérance à la trypanosomose des moutons et des chèvres de race naine Djallonké des régions Sud-guinéennes du Togo. Comparaison avec les bovins trypanotolérants , date=1987 , journal=Revue d'élevage et de médecine vétérinaire des pays tropicaux , trans-journal=Journal of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine in Tropical Countries , doi=10.19182/REMVT.8696 , s2cid=86116225 , pmid=3444966 , last1=Mawuena , last2=K. , volume=40 , issue=1 , pages=55–8 , url=http://revues.cirad.fr/index.php/REMVT/article/download/8696/8690, doi-access=free

Characteristics

Cameroon sheep

Distribution

See also

References

Further reading