The minds behind a plan aimed to save the Maltese strain of cattle from extinction are calling on the government to develop legislation aimed at protecting indigenous animals.

Godfrey Camilleri, assistant director of the Ghammieri Animal Husbandry Division, and Mark Brincat, director of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department and chairman of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Research Foundation, which, like any similar university institution, has a section focusing on animal research, see indigenous animals as a form of national heritage which should be protected by law. Such legislation was, unfortunately, non-existent as yet, they said.

The two said that if this strain of cattle was lost, a genetic resource would be lost for ever. Safeguarding them for posterity was not simply a matter of sentiment but a duty. It was everybody's duty to protect and safeguard such genetic resources, which were of great use to genetic science and to society in general.

The number of Maltese cattle by 1991 had dwindled to just three cows, and there was no bull to increase the stock. With alarm bells ringing, contacts started being made and sperm from a Chianina bull, a breed very similar to the Maltese strain, was imported from Scotland with the help of Vince Parnis from the Milk Producers' Cooperative. Mr Parnis also carried out artificial insemination on the remaining Maltese cows, using this sperm, for free.

Back-breeding attempts were successful and although today there was only one 100 per cent pure breed 'Maltese' cow, there were another 14 animals with a high percentage of purity. Animals having over 96 per cent purity are considered pure breed.

One of the bulls, which is 88 per cent pure, is at the Ghammieri, the others are mainly at Pawlu Saliba's farm in Marsascala. Mr Camilleri and Prof. Brincat said the country was indebted to Mr Saliba, who, assisted by his family, has been looking after animals which had no commercial value. Mr Saliba is getting a subsidy and will now get EU assistance for each animal under the rural development programme.

The DNA has been typed and this means that if the breed is lost in spite of the efforts being made, there would at least be a record of what once was. The DNA typing also enables comparisons to be made with similar breeds in other countries.

The DNA of the Maltese cow is now being analysed at the university. Moreover, a cell culture of the cow is being kept alive, so that the option of cloning will remain available in future. There had been initiatives by the department in the past to freeze the semen of the Maltese bull but for technical reasons these had not found any support from semen storage banks abroad.

The Ghammieri section, together with the assistance of Prof. Brincat's organisation and Mr Parnis, who was instrumental in bringing the Chianina semen to Malta and assisting in the back-breeding project, has managed to revive the threatened breed of the Maltese cow. The minister and his parliamentary secretary are monitoring the progress of this project with the help of Carmenu Abela, who has been deeply involved in the matter for over 12 years. However, the animal is not as yet out of danger, and is considered on the critical list by international organisations.

Asked whether in-breeding had weakened the strain, Mr Camilleri said that defects were certainly more likely to appear when there was in-breeding but after the remaining Maltese cows were impregnated with the Chianina bull's semen, a defect from which Maltese cattle used to suffer - they used to be born with a slightly inward-bent front hoof - did not reappear. Prof. Brincat said that in-breeding was dangerous only if there were recessive genetic conditions.

Otherwise, a mixed genetic pool which was safe and varied could be provided. A mixed genetic pool was achieved quite rapidly through a relatively low resource programme, he said.

However Prof. Brincat and Mr Camilleri said they could not continue to rely on voluntary organisations for expertise and funding, and were thankful that, after more than 10 years, initiatives should soon begin to be carried out professionally and resources to be made available.

Governments have, for many years, given an allowance for these breeds and this has also helped persuade breeders to sustain these animals. As the European Union was highly aware of such conservation efforts, the new Rural Development Plan would include measures to boost the sustainability of this breed.

Efforts were also under way to involve the Maltese cows in an agro-tourism project, which would make the breed more sustainable.

Both Prof. Brincat and Mr Camilleri said they would like someone to study animal remains found near the unique Maltese prehistoric temples, to see whether the Maltese cow could have been used in building the temples.

The Baladi Cattle of Egypt, after all, were very similar and they had been used in building the pyramids. Moreover, some of the animal drawings near the Maltese temples closely resembled the breed. It was an accepted fact that cattle dated back to at least prehistoric times. So there was also a historical, besides a biological interest.

Before the Chianina bull's semen was imported, attempts were made to locate similar cattle in Egypt but the idea fell through because of disease and because the Chianina was believed to be a closer version to its Maltese cousin.

Now, however, there is interest in the Cyprus and Crete varieties of the animal, which are thought to be even closer, and the department would like to carry out a breeding exercise with them. A study of the similarities with the Cypriot and Crete breeds would be possible following a costly, and time-consuming study of the respective DNAs.

Mr Camilleri said the Maltese cow, which was on the World Watch List of Endangered Species, was a willing beast, ready to work. It carried out its tasks perfectly. The animal could carry heavy loads and was also used for ploughing. This kind of cow was also associated with fertility all over the Mediterranean, due to high agricultural yields that it made possible.

The Maltese cow is a large beast of burden, strong and docile, and everyone gazes at it in wonder wherever they see it, such as at the Mnarja agricultural show at Buskett.

Mr Camilleri said the Maltese cow was a beautiful animal and children had the right to see this part of their heritage. Children in Malta were not used to seeing farm animals and when they visited Ghammieri they were fascinated, he said.

There is also another Maltese animal whose numbers are dwindling - the goat.

Out of some 70,000 animals in the pre-war period, only about 3,000 goats remain in Malta today and only some 250 of these are of the kind known specifically as Maltese goats.

The importance of the goats in the local picture declined when the then Milk Marketing Undertaking (the MMU) stopped the production for sale of goat milk in bottles. Goats were then exported to Libya commercially, bartering 20 goats to a cow. The health benefits of goat milk have now been recognised and this is in fact sold at higher prices in countries where this is produced commercially.

The black and white Maltese goats have also had their DNA typed. Their particular features are that they produce a lot of milk and give multiple births. At Ghammieri there is a small flock of about 30 goats but new genetic material is required. Maltese goats are found all over the world and it is planned to import some from Italy, where they number some 48,000, in order to expand the genetic pool.

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