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ANIMAL FIRES
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Animal Genetic Resources Information Network
Livestock Research Institute, Council of Agriculture
Executive Yuan
112 Muchang, Hsinhua, Tainan, Taiwan 712 (R.O.C.)
Email: angrin@mail.angrin.tlri.gov.tw
Conservation and utilization of genetic resource of local
breeds is one of research missions in animal sciences as part of continued agriculture.
There are four major tasks in the establishment of animal germplasm conservations;
collection, maintenance, evaluation, and utilization. Germplasm may be defined as the total
genetic diversity of a species. Continued increases in animal production require improved
varieties, and animal improvement is certainly dependent upon genetic diversity.
Germplasm
preservations maintain portions of this diversity to meet the needs of the animal breeders
and producers, sometimes even to serve out society from a culture aspect.
The local breeds usually has a smaller body size,
slower growth rate and less lean meat content but had one or more adapting characteristics
to their living environment in the past, such as prolificacy of Taoyuan pig, heat
tolerance of yellow cattle, disease-resistance of water buffalo, twinning of black goat,
prolific laying ability of Tsaiya duck, roughage tolerance of Chinese goose, meat flavor
of country chicken, and early maturity of miniature pig. They have lived on the same piece
of earth with us for many years but they need to face the fate of elimination from the
market-place due to less production values and interbred with other exotic varieties
frequently. Taiwan Livestock Research Institute, included her animal propagation stations
and research stations together with universities' Animal Science Department under
financial support in part from the Council of Agriculture, Republic of China, have
conducted the nation-wise project of animal germplasm conservation program to save these
native animals since 1987.
Due to the limitation of raising facilities and
finance support, cry preservation of semen and embryo from native breeds are essential to
maintain the variance of genetic resources. Thus the freezing techniques for semen of
yellow cattle, black goat, pigs, country chicken, Tsaiya ducks and Chinese geese were
developed and applied currently in field test to check the survivability of thawed sperm.
Embryos of yellow cattle, black goat and Taoyuan pig were frozen in the liquid nitrogen
condition and had been examined their mortalities after thawing and transfer into
surrogate mothers, Although the transfer of frozen embryo was not success in several
trails, but with direct transfer of fresh embryos into surrogates several Lanyu miniature
piglets and one black goat lamb were born alive in 1991.
Animal resources of Taiwan are bounteous and are
preserving for the improvement of exotic breeds in term of production performance and
efficiency. Conservation and integration of germplasm for new variants should be a major
mission of governmental research institutes in order to utilize gene pool adequately.
We would like to acknowledge the scholarly efforts
of our contributors, who have made the germplasm program stimulating and rewarding by
providing timely collections and beautiful pictures. Our appreciation also go to the
Animal Industry Department, Council of Agriculture (AID), and from 1987to 1998 Taiwan Provincial Government's
Department of Agriculture and Forestry (DAF, combined into AID in 1999)for their supports.
Before renewal
homepage 20051212
ANIMAL FIRES
Pigs:
When you mention pigs. the first
thing people will think of is Zhu Bajie, the pig character from
the legendary novel Journey to the West Journey to the West
written around the fourteenth or fifteenth century. This is the
story of the misfortunes that beset the monk Tripitaka and his
three travelling companions, the Monkey King, Zhu Bajie and Sha
Wujing, on their pilgrimage to India. According to the story. Zhu
Bajie was an immortal in heaven in his former life who came to
live among humankind as punishment for his drunken flirtations at
a banquet. However, when he came to the world of men, he
mistakenly selected the body of a pig to live in, and wound up in
a human form with a pig's head. Subsequently, his allegiance was
won by Tripitaka, who he accompanied on the quest to get
scriptures from India. Along the way, Zhu Bajie's gluttony, love
of sleep, and debauchery are the cause of various incidents. ....
There is a old legend about the
origin of the cow, man's faithful agricultural helper. Back in
the first days of the human race, seeing that people were at a
loss as to how many meals and rests they should take each day,
the gods in heaven sent a warrior down to the earth to order them
to eat once and sleep three times each day. Before long, after
observing human behavior, the Sky God was so upset that they were
taking three meals per day that he ordered the gods of fire and
water to descend to the world and destroy humankind. Angered, the
Sky God said, "I told you to order them to eat once and
sleep three times each day, but you altered my order on your own
volition." With this, the Sky God kicked the warrior's teeth
right out of his mouth. Seeing that the human race faced
destruction for his error, the kind-hearted warrior begged the
Sky God to let him die in their place. But the Sky God answered
sadly, "Killing you cannot save the human race anyway,
because they cannot grow enough crops to sustain them for three
meals each day." The warrior then told the Sky God that he
was willing to live among humans as an ox in order to help them
till their fields and save them from starvation. And so the
warrior became a hard-working ox on earth. Legend says that cows
have no upper teeth because they were kicked out up in heaven by
the Sky God. One day, after some time had passed, the Sky God saw
that the warrior who had become an ox was a hearty worker, but he
was always pestered by flies and mosquitoes and his body was full
of sores. In a moment of compassion, the Sky God bestowed a pair
of horns on the ox to fend off enemies, and a tail in back to
swat mosquitoes and other pests. This is where cows came from.
.......
Goats:
Since ancient times, Chinese have
always looked upon goat(sheep) with affection, and have regarded
the animal as a symbol of good fortune. Therefore, when the
written script for the word "goat(sheep)" was devised,
a graphic representation of the animal's two antlers, four legs
and tail, the same form was adopted in the character for
"luck" or "good fortune." Needless to say,
the Chinese affection for goat(sheep) goes beyond the fact that
the ancient written characters for "goat(sheep)" and
"luck" were physically similar. More significantly, it
was felt that the gaot embodied certain virtues that surpassed
even humans themselves. For example, when young lambs suckle milk
from their mothers, they often do so from a kneeling position as
if in filial gratitude. For this unique virtue, praise of
goat(sheep) can be found in ancient poetry. Due to the kneeling
posture of suckling lambs, Chinese regarded goat(sheep) as the
most grateful of all the animals. and thus used lamb on the
sacrificial altar in symbolic reference to their own sense of
gratitude to heaven and earth. ......
Long time ago, a rooster lived in
heaven as the sun's little brother. The rooster really wanted to
be the big brother, but his martial arts skills were not as good
as the sun's, so he decided to descend to earth to be king among
the people. In order to be king, he would first need to attack
and defeat some other animals. So he took his long beak and
sharpened it on a rock with all his might in order to better deal
with the enemy. He sharpened it until it was just one inch long,
but he still felt it wasn't good enough. This is why we can still
see roosters rubbing their beaks on the ground or on rocks. In
order to handle enemies approaching from behind, the rooster
attached two spurs to the back of his feet to jab attackers. In
Taiwan, daughters would use one rooster and one hen -- or what
were called "guide chickens" -- as dowries when going
off to marry. After the bride arrived at the bridegroom's home,
the two "guide chickens" were placed under the
newlyweds' bed to see which one ran out first. If the rooster was
first, it meant that the couple would have a boy. If the hen was
first, they would have a girl. ......
Once upon a time. long ago. there
lived a duck. She lived with her duckling YA.YA. in a nest at the
top of a tree. Every day, she would go out looking for food to
bring back for YA.YA. to eat. After their meal. the two would
sing merrily together. In this way, they lived a happy and rich
life. But one day when she was returning from her search for
food. she was startled to see a great, fierce eagle carrying
YA.YA. away. Tears of dismay rolled down her cheeks. and with no
regard for her own safety. She set out in hot pursuit. But the
eagle had long since disappeared into thin air. She began calling
her duckling's name. "YA.YA.!. YA.YA.!" Tears streaming
down her cheeks, she flew right through some dark rain clouds.
The clouds blackened her wings. but she continued her search.
Then she flew through a grove of trees. The branches of the trees
cut her face. but she kept on searching. searching... Finally,
utterly exhausted. she fell from the sky into a place where
humans dwelled. The humans rescued her and treated the wounds on
her face. They gave her food to eat and a perch to rest on. To
thank the humans, she told them. "When you have no food to
eat. you can make me your food. But now I cannot be of service to
you. for I must find my duckling YA.YA." So, she made the
human village her home. Because the humans fed her well. she grew
fat and clumsy until she was unable to fly. But every day she
continued calling out "YA.YA." .......
Geese:
In the third century AD there
lived a great Chinese calligrapher called Wang Xizhi. Besides the
diligent study of Chinese characters. Wang Xizhi also had a hobby
-- raising geese. He believed that goose raising didn't just
develop refinement in a person's tastes. he felt that from the
physical form of geese he could gain an insight into the secrets
of motion and technique in calligraphy. The great calligrapher
Wang Xizhi's obsession with geese can be seen in the stories
related below: Having been appointed a local official, Wang Xizhi
used his leisure time to poke around a famous local historical
landmark. Early one morning, he took a boat to view the mountain
scenery. Suddenly he noticed a gaggle of geese scooting along the
bank, some flapping their wings and scampering, others stretching
their necks and crying out. Wang Xizhi was taken by the scene.
Two geese in particular stood out from the others by virtue of
their coloring and calls. Captivated, Wang wished to buy them and
bring them home. so he went to ask their owner about them. The
owner of the geese knew this was the legendary calligrapher. and
wanted him to make a copy of a Buddhist Sutra for him. Wang Xizhi
was greatly covetous of the geese and happily agreed to the
owner's request, writing out a copy of the sutra. This is the
familiar tale known as "Wang Xizhi Turns Words Into
Geese." .....
The
videos are free for educational institutes/organizations and
schools. Please write your request with your mailing address to
Department of Animal Breeding, Taiwan Livestock Research
Institute, 112 Farm Road, Hsinhua 71210, Tainan, TAIWAN, ROC.
