Adaptaur
Encyclopedia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in the 1950s from crosses between Hereford
Hereford
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...
s and Shorthorn
Shorthorn
The Shorthorn breed of cattle originated in the North East of England in the late 18th century. The breed was developed as dual purpose, suitable for both dairy and beef production; however there were always certain blood lines within the breed which emphasised one quality or the other...
s.
History
The breed was established on the Belmont Research Station near Rockhampton, QueenslandRockhampton, Queensland
Rockhampton is a city and local government area in Queensland, Australia. The city lies on the Fitzroy River, approximately from the river mouth, and some north of the state capital, Brisbane....
and cattle were selected primarily for increased resistance and/or tolerance to tropical heat and cattle tick
Tick
Ticks are small arachnids in the order Ixodida, along with mites, constitute the subclass Acarina. Ticks are ectoparasites , living by hematophagy on the blood of mammals, birds, and sometimes reptiles and amphibians...
s (Boophilus microplus).
Characteristics
Adaptaur cattle are early maturing and of a medium size with a short dark red pigmented coat and good resistance to internal parasites. Some Adaptaurs carry a gene that produces extremely high resistance to cattle ticks and the Australian Hereford Society is assisting to increase frequency of the gene by embryo transfer.It is capable of producing substantial hybrid vigor when used for crossbreeding. The F1 progeny grow faster and are more fertile than Brahman
Brahman (cattle)
The Brahman or Brahma is a breed of Zebu cattle , later exported from India to the rest of the world. The main breeds used were Kankrej, Gujurat, Nelore or Ongole and the Gir or Gyr cattle...
s. Adaptaurs have similar resistance to ticks and worms as Brahmans. They are at least 10% more efficient than Brahmans and have the favorable carcase qualities of the Bos taurus cattle.
Adaptaur cattle are mainly found in the tropical
Tropics
The tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...
areas of northern Australia.