Goats in Iran-Past,Present and Future

摘要

Goats were among the first domesticated animals.Easy access to goat hair,meat and milk were the primary motivations for goat domestications by human.The process started at least 10,000 years ago in what is now northern Iran.There are several evidences indicating on the fact that goats were first domesticated in Iran,Including genetic assays on ancient remnant goat bones,the motif of Mountain goat of Iran (National Animal) on many prehistoric artifacts,ancient animation of goat and palm tree,historical traditional goat rearing systems known as Nomads and Goats,many stories about goats in Persian history,some traditional products made by goat hair and the famous Iranian Carpet.In addition to the abundant milk production,goats have other valuable products such as hair and mohair,which are preferably used for making ropes,bags,panels,carpet,felt and warm clothing.There is a great potential for improving the milk production in Irainian dairy goat population.Since several years ago,national genetic improving scheme and goat breeding programs have been organized,in which elite foreign goat breeds have been crossed with native goat breeds in Iran.These programs have been conducted to extend the population of genetically improved goats throughout the country.In fact,two important strategies were employed by government policies to improve goat population in Iran.The first is preservation of valuable domestic goat breeds and the second is crossbreeding the native goats with Saanen and Alpine.However,these goals will not be achieved without a complete programming schedule in the fields of research,investment,hygiene,training and marketing.