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    Selective Breeding in Animals: L R N - L I I L R

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    Selective Breeding in Animals: L R N - L I I L R

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    Selective Breeding in Animals: L R N - L I I L R

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    Selective breeding in animals

    Just as crops have been selectively bred for desired traits, so too have 1nany animal
    species. In agriculture, sheep have been selected for the quality and quantity of the
    ,vool they grov,, dairy co,vs have been selected for the milk they produce, beef cattle
    for their muscle mass and poultry for body 1,veight and egg-laying. Aquaculture
    may involve selective breeding and is Australia's fastest gro\ving primary industry
    producing fish, prawns, and shellfish including oysters and pearls.1' here are niche
    industries for sale of pedigree pets that involve intensive breeding programs.
    When a selected species has a variety of traits, different traits 1nay be useful in
    different situations. A single 1,vild species can be the original source of a great variety
    of different breeds 1,vith an obvious example being domestic dogs bred from a single
    ,volf species.

    Examples of selective breeding in animals


    • Domestic dogs- It is 1,videly accepted that all today's do1nestic dogs were selectively
    bred fron1 a 1,volf species. Today there are hundreds of domesticated dog breeds,
    some of 1,vhich would be unlikely to survive in the wild. Examples include soft-
    mouthed, strong S\\iirnn1ing dogs such as Labradors, ,vhich 1,vere bred for duck
    hunting, and sheepdogs bred for their intelligence and agility (Figure 2.4.17a).
    Humans have also artificially selected for a wide variety of traits in chickens, horses
    and many other domestic animals to produce gene pools that consistently produce
    the desired traits. Sometimes this has led to inbreeding 1,vith questionable outcomes
    for the health and 1,velfare of the animal, such as the huge head and narroi,v hips
    of the bulldog that usually means their pups n1ust be born by Caesarean section
    (Figure 2.4. l 7b). Some other issues 1,vith dog breeds are hip and arthritis problems,
    abnormally small skulls that cause pressure on the brain and breathing difficulty,
    and overgrowth of hair that covers and irritates their eyes (Figure 2.4.17c).
    • Poultry- In the Australian poultry industry, scientific research is fundamental
    to their breeding programs. Geneticists select birds with the best characteristics
    for egg or .meat production. Today's meat chicken looks quite different from its
    \\rild ancestor and is quite different fro1n n1odern laying chickens, 1,vhich are bred
    specifically for egg production (Figure 2.4.18). Ne,\' genetic strains are imported
    into Australia as fertilised eggs, then hatched and reared to nine ,veeks under
    quarantine. Birds released from quarantine become the great-grandparents of
    the chicken you purchase at your local shop or butcher. These valuable great-
    grandparent eggs are imported from a handful of companies based in the USA
    and the u ·K that specialise in selective breeding of meat chickens.
    • Prawns- TI1e Australian black tiger pra,vn \Vas developed tl1rough collaboration
    between CSIRO and industry partners. CSIRO scientists undertook a 10-year
    program of selective breeding in order to develop the pra\vn noi,v being used by
    prai,vn farmers in Australia. The ne\v breed has improved groi,vth and survival
    rates, boosting pond yields by more than 50%.The average industry productivity
    for farmed pra,vns is five tonnes per hectare. The average yield of the ne\v breed
    in 2010 1,vas 17.5 tonnes per hectare.

    FIGURE 2.4.17 Domestic dogs have been (and


    continue to be) selectively bred for a wide
    variety of characteristics. (a) Sheepdogs are bred
    for energy, agility and their hardworking nature.
    FIGURE 2.4.18 (a) Wyandotte chickens are a dual purpose breed kept for its brown-shelled eggs and Other dogs are bred for their attractiveness or
    yellow-skinned meat {b) Today's wild red jungle fowl of southeast Asia is the ancestral type of the prize winning qualities, such as (b) the English
    modern domestic chicken. bulldog and {c) the Lhasa Apso.

    CHAPTER 2 I REPRODUCTION 105

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