First
Senepol Semen to Papua New Guinea
The first exports of senepol semen from
Australia, took place last October , with a shipment going to
the great Britain Palm Oil Co in Papua New Guinea. The Company
has been using African derived genetics, sourced from Australia,
for the past 3 to 4 years and are getting good results.
Samaritan (pictured right) spent 6 weeks
at the Beef Breeding Service quarantine centre in Rockhampton,
where exportable semen was collected. BBS still has in stock 300
straws of licensed export quality semen from Samaritan, should
more international orders come along.
Searching on the Animal
Web Database
The simplest way to find an animal on the Senepol
web database is to go to the name field, and use the % signs either
side of the name you are seeking.
For example, if you are searching for WJ Wizard, enter the following
in the name field – %wizard% (see
below)
You will then receive a
listing of all animals with “Wizard” in any part of
their name -
Slick Gene Located
Everyone involved with the Senepol breed will
be aware of the slick gene that makes this Bos taurus breed so
resistant to heat and the other benefits of tropical adaptation
that a slick coat confers.
Dr. Tim Olson, Animal Science Department, University
of Florida, Gainesville, USA who discovered the slick gene now
tells me “we now know that it is on Chromosome 20”.
This was affirmed by a researcher from Australia
working in a gene discovery project for the gene, Dr. Maxy Mariasegarum.
They don’t have a good DNA marker test yet for the gene,
but they are very hopeful that one could be found in the next
few years.
Now wouldn’t that be a great selection tool for Senepols
and Senepol-derived cattle!
Don Nicol – Breedlink.
