Our Pride: Indigenous Livestock Breeds Depicted on Indian Postage Stamps Somvanshi R.* Emeritus Scientist (ICAR), National Animal and Veterinary Science Educational Museum ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Uttar Pradesh, 243122, India *Correspondence dr.rsomvanshi@gmail.com
Online published on 30 November, 2019. Abstract India has 27 recognized indigenous breeds of cattle which are found in the different parts of the country. Similarly, horses are inherent to Indian civilization from pre-historical times. Five breeds of indigenous Indian horse's viz., Marwari, Kathiawari, Manipuri, Spiti and Zanskari have been identified. In addition, the dog was domesticated at the end of stone age, and it's evolution in different geographical areas in India has resulted in a unique local breeds, for e.g. Bhotias, Shikaris, Rampur and MudholHounds, Rajapalayams and Tripuris. Lastly, the earliest recorded existence of the modern poultry species is traced back to the Indian Red Jungle Fowl. The modernization of the poultry industry in the last three decades has put India among the world's top egg producers. Recognizing the importance of these indigenous animal of India, the Department of Posts of India has issued commemorative postage stamps on Indian Red Jungle Fowl on the occasion of XX World's Poultry Congress organized at New Delhi in 1996, on four breeds of indigenous cattle viz. Hallikar, Kangayam, Gir and Kankrej in 2000, on four indigenous horse breeds viz. Marwari, Kathiawari, Zanskari and Manipuri in 2009 and on four breeds of Indian dogs-Rajapalayam, Rampur Hound, the Himalayan Sheep Dog and Mudhol Hound in 2009. These stamps are important as they help in creating awareness about our indigenous animal breeds and bring attention on conservation of these valuable germ plasm, some of which are at the verge of extinction. Top Keywords Stamps, Indigenous animal breeds, germplasm, conservation, Indian. Top |