Analysis for prioritizing risk status and sustainable utilization of cattle, sheep, and goat breeds in Türkiye

Authors: MESUT YILDIRIR, SEYRANİ KONCAGÜL, YASEMİN ÖNER, AYŞE OYA AKIN

Abstract: Animal Genetic Resources (AnGR) are a warranty for future unknown conditions and needs. Due to this fact, sustainable use and conservation of AnGR have special importance, and to achieve reliable programs for these goals, the risk status of AnGR should be estimated accurately. The aim of this study was to estimate the risk status for three widely used domesticated livestock species of cattle, sheep, and goat in animal production: 6 cattle, 33 sheep, and 15 goat breeds were included in the analysis. Extinction probability (z) was taken as a criterion for the risk status of each breed. Data collection based on survey realized with 215 farmers, field observations and personal interviews were performed for different provinces between 2014 and 2017. Extinction probabilities estimated were ranged from 0.53 to 0.90 with an average of 0.71 for native cattle breeds. Çine Çaparı sheep and Abaza goat had the highest extinction probabilities of 0.97 and 0.87, respectively, while Kıl goat and İvesi sheep breeds had the lowest probabilities of 0.37 and 0.40, respectively. Present study demonstrated that risk analyses of survey data sets may provide useful information concerning the decision-making on conservation efforts for endangered breeds. It should be monitored risk status for breeds to create efficient conservation investments. Considering the limited resources, it is undeniable that while some breeds continued to protect, some others would be removed from conservation programs. To make this task an appropriate manner extinction probability may be used as a criterion for decision-making.

Keywords: Animal genetic resources, extinction probability, genetic diversity, sustainability

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