When FAO published a major work in 1974 (Ross Cockrill), reviewing for the first time the then existing information relating to the water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), Sir John Grenfell E Crawford, the Vice Chancellor of the Australian National University, introduced it by unr' rlining that “among all farming livestock which science had neglected, the domestic buffalo served as an outstanding example of genera failure to recognise and exploit its production potential” Since then a world-wide interest has developed in this species, not only as a purveyor of anima protein for human consumption, but also because of a growing interest in the diversification of products of animal origin and the manufacture of typical regiona products as well as a variety of renewed uses of these animals. Furthermore, the strong image linking the buffalo with nature and the environment's ecological equilibrium, particularly in some of the world's more marginal lands, shows this species as one of the most viable alternatives of intensive cattle husbandry systems which are more and more under accusation in an environment-conscious society.

El caballo Losino, Pony sp Losino segun Mason (1960), recibe su denominacion del area oringinal de cria, el Valle de Losa, en el Norte de la provincia de Burgos (España). Se encuentra emparentado con otras razas autoctonas derivadas del tronco Cantabro-Pirenaico: el garrano portugues, el faco gallego, el caballo asturcon, el thieldon, la jaca soriana, el caballo navarro, el pottoka vasco, el caballo de Merens y el extinguido caballo catalan. La Raza Losina mantuvo sus efectivos hasta los anos 50 pero posteriormente, y debido principalmente a la mecanizacion del campo, al cruce con razas de aptitud carnica y con ganado asnal para la produccion mulatera, su poblacion descendio hasta llegar en 1986 a los limites mas criticos de toda su historia. Ese ano, en vista de la alarmante situacion, se inicio el proyecto de recuperacion de la raza creandose posteriormente en Pancorbo (Burgos) el primer Centro de Cria y Seleccion del caballo Losino. En este Centro se viene manteniendo el sistema natural de crianza en libertad. Los animales, una vez que han sido desbravados y domados, vienen utilizados para la equitación infantil juvenil, en enganches y para realizar las rutas ecuestres por zonas rurales y de montaña.

The Ladakh plateau is an arctic desert in the Western Himalaya having an annual rainfall of 8 to 9 cm. Extreme environmental conditions and persistent hypoxia affect the human and livestock populations. Limited grazing resources are the other limiting factor. Despite these hardships, a great variety of livestock species are available in Ladakh. The yak is the most important species for highlanders providing them subsistence in terms of milk, meat, fibres, skin and hides. It is an excellent pack and transport animal in snow bound passes. Male Yak hybrids with local cattle are excellent bullocks under the hypoxic environment. The small population of local hill cattle is endangered due to large scale crossbreeding with yaks and exotic cattle. The majority of goatsoin Ladakh are Pashmmina type. The Changthangi is an important goat breed. Local small sized sheep yield fine carpet type wool and resemble the Tibetan sheep. Zaniskari horses are in danger of extinction. Other horses and ponies available in Ladakh appeared similar to the Tibetan ponies. The local donkeys have a large bulging head with long hair. Only 54 Bacterin camels are left in the region. Poultry and pigs are not popular in Ladakh. Almost all livestock species have long body hair to survive in extreme climatic conditions.

A pilot survey was conducted in the western d.istrict of Sikkim to monitor the status of the Siri cattle breed. Data was recorded on certain morphological characters, management practices and performance of Siri animals. Measurements were recorded of body length, heart girth, body height, paunch girth, hip width, pin width, face length, face width, ear length and horns on 89 animals of age groups up to 1 year,1 to 3 years and adult. It was noted that pure Siri animals were reared only in the remote inaccessible areas. Extensive crossbreeding with Jersey semen/bulls is progressively eroding the purity of the breed. Measures to conserve the Siri cattle breed in its native ecology have been advocated.

Se describe el origen, antecedentes históricos y situación censal del poney gallego, así como los sistemas de explotación en libertad. Se realiza una descripción de sus características etnológicas, parámetros biométricos y estructura genética, además de las características productivas y planes de conservación.

Goats have an important place in the Indian economy. There is a need for proper description anid evaluation of existing genetic resources and determining the need for their conservation. The paper explains the philosophy of progeny testing in goats for production of proven bucks. It contains the observations on existing selection programmes and recommendations for an improved system to provide the knowledge required to adapt record keeping and progeny testing technology to the unique Indian environment.

The Grazalema Merino and Lebrija Churro Sheep and the Andalusian White and Andalusian Black goat breeds, previously chosen as priority breeds in need of conservation, were considered as having priority for this study. In order to define the genetic as well as the phenotypic profiles the following characters were used: head profile, ear size, ear orientation, ear consistency, horns, pigmentation of mucous, hoofs, udder, ñneness of fur, hair or wool, length of hair or wool, presence of wattles and goatee bear, supernumerary nipples., udder shape, orientation and pigmentation of nipple, and peculiarities of coat. The allelic frequencies for each system were calculated to obtain the genetic profiles of each breed. In the two goat breeds and in the Grazalema Merino breed, the majority of the loci were genetically in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, but this was not true of the Lebrijan Churro breed which seems to indicate that the latter was either subjected to natural or artificial selection for these genes or crosses with outside breeds had taken place. The profiles of the breeds were compared with foreign breeds considered traditional or unmodified by man. The profile of the Andalusian White has already been studied by Rodero and they reached the conclusion that this breed can be considered traditional, completing the studies made on other breeds from the Mediterranean area. The data on the Andalusian Black seems to indicate that this breed might be considered traditional or subtraditional with strong polymorphism in most of its characters. Although less markedly than in the latter breed, the same is true of the Lebrijan Churro. In this breed the deñning characters of Archaism fit well within those common to an archaic breed. The Grazalema Merino is more standardised than the above mentioned not as ñxed than the precocious ones.

L'article présente une révision intéressante de l'état actuel des ressources génétiques animales en Cóte d'Ivoire. Les cinq espéces principales (bovins, ovins, caprins, porcins et volailles) sont présentées. I1 existe trois groupe de bovins autochtones: le Baoulé, le N'Dama et le Lagune; les deux derniers sont considérés trypanotolérants. Le Baoulé posséde une population de presque 500 000 animaux et le N'Dama quelques 100 000, tandis que la population de Lagune de petite taille est de moins de 1000. I1 existe également u.ne population transhumante formée de zébus croisés (Baoulé x zébu) ainsi que de N'Dama croisés avec des German Fleckvieh ou des French Abondance. La race d'ovin plus répandue est la fameuse Djallonké (environ 1200 000 animaux) que l'on rencontre aussi bien dans les foréts que dans les savannes. L'Institut des Sciences a initié un programme de sélection en 1980 qui se poursuit actuellement. Dans le cas des chévres la seule race présente est la naine de l'Afrique de l'ouest, appelée aussi Djallonké, avec une population de un peu moins de 1 000 000. Les secteurs porcins et de volailles sont dominés par la présence de races locales et de quelques croisements avec des races importées. L'article présente une description approfondie des systémes de production traditionnels et de leur évolution; il donne également des indications sur les normes de conservations existantes pour les races N'Dama, Baoulé et Djallonké.