Rhymes from Rainforest Dwarf Carpine: Ancient and Modern:- Francis Okechukwu A.

ABSTRACT

Ruminants are cud chewing animals that have the ability to utilize refractory materials. There are two major domesticated types, the large and the small ruminants. Cattle constitute the former while the latter, made up ofsheep and goats are the caprine Sheep and goats belong to the family Ovis and Capra, respectively. The domestic goat is known as Capra aegagrus. There are over 800 million goats in the world and about 53 million ofthem are found in Nigeria (FAOSTAT, 2008). Nigeria is home to three major goat breeds, the Sahel, the Red Sokoto (Maradi) and the West African Dwarf. My distinguished lecture today would throw light on West African Dwarf goat. This discuss will try to broadcast the developmental trend ofthis small ruminant breed in Nigeria. The emphasis would be to look at the larger picture of the past, appraise its present status and possibly volunteerstrategies for its future development