Evolution of the Holstein

Alright, now here's a subject that bears investigation. Or rather, wouldn't it be prudent to use science (and history) to our advantage once we understand something about the process of evolution?

There's an article in this weeks New York Times Magazine called, A Dying Breed: A Cautionary Tale of Well-Intentioned Development by a fellow named Andrew Rice. It chronicles Uganda's transition from the Longhorn Ankole cow to the American Holstein, and ultimately, the potential loss of genetic variation in African cattle.

The Holstein is capable of providing 20-30 times as much milk as an African Ankole, which is significant given the level of poverty affecting Uganda. But the Holstein doesn't deal well with heat, while the Ankole has long horns that function to disperse excess body heat. Other traits specific to Holsteins are that they are commonly ill and require imported medicine (we tend to deal with this by pumping cattle with preventative antibiotics) and they consume more resources than will be ultimately sustainable. In contrast, the Ankole is resistant to far more strains of disease and is capable of sustaining a draught, but will not produce the quantity of milk that a farmer needs to prosper.

In other words, while this transition allows many Ugandan's to thrive in the short term, becoming reliant on a livelihood that's unsustainable will put the country in a precarious position. And many of the tribes in Uganda are lactose intolerant. The other side of this dilemma is that the Holstein has brought resources to an impoverished country. Rice acknowledges that, "An estimated 70 percent of the world's rural poor, some 630 million people, derive a substantial percentage of their income from livestock. Increase the productivity of these animals...and you improve dire living standards."

The risk here is the extinction of livestock breeds that have evolved to thrive in this particular ecosystem. "The Food and Agriculture Organization...recently reported that at least 20 percent of the world's estimated 7,600 livestock breeds are in danger of extinction. Experts are warning of a potential meltdown in global genetic diversity."

This loss of genetic diversity in this context seems like a catastrophe on par with the Irish Potato Famine. The difference, of course, is that we know quite a bit more about the repercussions of our actions and proceed in a seemingly reckless fashion.

Here's a link, in case this has generated any interest.
www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/magazine/27cow-t.html