Javanese Zebu Cattle of Papua New Guinea Extinction by neglect.

Abstract

Cattle of South-east Asian origin were introduced and became widespread in New Guinea during German colonial times. The predominant type was a small, distinctive zebu-type animal which became known as the Javanese Zebu. These cattle were used for vegetation control under coconuts as well as for beef. The herds were decimated and dispersed during the Japanese occupation but a number were re-established post-war and, in the mid 1970s, government officers accumulated such cattle to establish breeding herds at Erap in Morobe and Urimo in East Sepik. A limited amount of comparative production data were obtained before these herds too were dispersed in the 1980s. There are now no known pure breeding herds in existence but there may be a number of these cattle still owned by smallholders in the Sepik Plains area. The FAO - UN lists the breed as endangered and, short of a major salvage operation, it may well be regarded as extinct. The available data and publications all come from the work of Dr John Holmes and his colleagues, but there are only three research papers. Compared to typical lowland Brahman crossbred commercial cattle, Javanese cattle are smaller and grow more slowly when on good pasture. They are more fertile but the margin is small under good conditions. However, the Javanese cattle are clearly superior in all aspects of productivity in the harsh environment of the Sepik Plains. If indeed the breed has been lost due to over 20 years of neglect by government agencies and the cattle industry, it will be difficult to replace for beef production in the harsh, humid, poor fertility lowland grasslands. The conservation of domestic animal biodiversity at the sub-species level is crucial as production industries face uncertain futures.