Game domestication for animal production in Kenya: theory and practice

Abstract

SummaryThe term game is applied to those wild animals which are pursued in the chase or kept for pleasure. When an animal has been domesticated it belongs to the family, lives in or near the habitations of man and is tame, not wild.Wild African buffalo, eland, oryx and gazelle were caught by either dart-immobilization, chasing and roping, or driving into a corral. Weaned, sub-adult animals were preferred. The taming procedures started in small, dark, padded cells and progressed through a series of larger enclosures until the animals were grazing in a 40 ha paddock 7 weeks after capture. Gazelle was the only species which was not established as a domestic herd by this method, because of its liability to self-inflicted injuries.The domestic game animals were grazed over thousands of hectares without fencing, but under supervision of herdsmen. They were subjected to standard domestic animal husbandry procedures including eartagging, dehorning and castration.The conclusion is that some African game animals are easy to domesticate as has also been demonstrated in the prehistoric and recent past. The reason they have not displaced conventional livestock can be found in the history of domestication. The condition originated in the Middle East and spread mainly by the introduction of an alien culture and livestock to Africa. The time when sub-Saharan Africans had established a suitable way of life for domestication coincided with the arrival of cattle, sheep and goats forced south by the desiccating environment.The potential of African game animals to domestic animal production will be evaluated in subsequent papers.