Breed Profile: Moroccan Goats
Moroccan Black Goats Are the Ancient Landrace of Berber Pastoralists Recently Famous for Climbing Trees
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Photo: Moroccan goats of Ghazalia and Barcha type around a Berber house in the Sahara desert. Adobe Stock photo.
BREED: There are around six million goats in Morocco, about 95% of which are native landraces. Most are small black goats who thrive in mountains and are remarkably well adapted to arid conditions. These are collectively known as Black goats (and sometimes Moroccan Berber goats). Regional populations also have local names. Studies have defined at least three closely related types that they name Atlas, Barcha, and Ghazalia. A distinct native breed, the Draa (or D’man), lives in the valleys around the southern oases.
ORIGIN: Settlers brought goats to Northern Africa from their cradle of domestication during several migrations over land and the Mediterranean Sea around 5000 years ago.
The History of Moroccan Goats
The local Amazigh communities (widely known as Berbers) adopted goat herding for subsistence agriculture many thousand years ago. The tradition continues to this day. Around 80% of farms are under 12 acres (5 ha). Nearly half of these are in mountainous terrain and nearly 20% in desert or semi-desert. Around the Draa oases, the local herds are more prolific with higher milk yield, which has led to more intensive systems in recent years. Similarly, in the north, a dairy type has been developed from native goats crossed with Murciano-Granadina dairy goats from Spain. Demand for dairy has arisen due to increasing urbanization in recent years.
Apart from these dairy herds, goats generally graze open ranges. They browse the argan tree for its fruit and leaves, even climbing along branches to reach higher boughs. Argan oil is a prized product that women extract from the fruit kernel, and harvesters found that collecting kernels from goat droppings saved labor. In modern practice, however, women normally remove the fruit peel and flesh by hand or machine.
The severe drought of the last few years devastated crops and pastures, leaving farmers unable to earn a living. Many of these resorted to the tourist attraction of goats climbing trees in order to feed their families and animals. Goats are trained to climb argan trees and stand on platforms and tourists pay to take photographs. Such displays have sprung up along main roads into cities. Sadly, such work is uncomfortable and can lead to dehydration and heat stress, as goats would not normally remain aloft for such long periods. Currently, there exists no other option for such families and their animals to survive.
Genetic Importance of the Landraces
CONSERVATION STATUS: In 1960, there were approximately eight million goats of mainly the native landrace. This had reduced to five million by 1990. Increased urbanization, drought, and the introduction of more productive foreign breeds threaten the future of native populations and, with them, their adaptive genetic heritage.
BIODIVERSITY: Through multiple migrations and gene exchange over a wide area, Moroccan goats have remained highly diverse, possessing many gene variants. This has allowed them to adapt well to local conditions and harsh environments.
These variations are spread throughout the territory, indicating that herds have continued interbreeding. Whereas survival skills have shaped the landrace, artificial selection has been minimal, allowing this diversity to remain. Visual differences between populations are due small genetic changes in response to breeding preferences, inbreeding, or local anomalies. Genetic analysis revealed a close relationship between Barcha and Ghazalia, with Atlas only a little more distant, and Draa more distinct. This is reflected in the different shape, coloring, and productivity of the Draa.
Their highly efficient adaptation to a hot arid environment demonstrates how valuable the genetic diversity of native breeds is to an area undergoing climate change. The downside of modern high-yielding breeds is that they lack the ability to survive drought, poor feed quality, and changing conditions.
Characteristics of Moroccan Landrace Goats
DESCRIPTION: Small sturdy goats with long hair, straight to concave facial profile, and lop ears. The Draa differ in that they have short coats of various colors, are larger, and frequently polled.
COLORING: The coat is normally completely or mainly black: the Atlas has a red tint, the Barcha has white mottling on the ears and muzzle, and the Ghazalia has pale (white to light brown) ears, belly, lower limbs, and facial stripe from eye to muzzle. Draa are often brown or pied.
HEIGHT TO WITHERS: Adult does average 20–28 in. (50–72 cm); bucks 24–32 in. (60–82 cm).
WEIGHT: Adult does average 44–88 lb. (20–40 kg); bucks 57–110 lb. (26–50 kg).
POPULAR USE: Black goats are mainly bred for meat. The Northern and Draa are also milked.
PRODUCTIVITY: The advantage of the native populations is that they are able to continue to produce during arid, unfavorable conditions. Milk production by Black goats is only sufficient to raise kids, averaging 100–150 lb. (46–68 kg) per lactation, but rich in nutrients. Buttermilk (1.5–8%) and protein (2.4–4.9%) vary according to availability of drinking water. Draa average 313 lb. (142 kg) over 150 days and can breed at any time of year. Northern average 440 lb. (200 kg) over 179 days.
ADAPTABILITY: Moroccan goats drink a lot less water than their European counterparts and are more resistant to water stress. After not drinking for two days, milk yield is reduced, but its nutrients are concentrated. In this circumstance, food intake is not reduced as much as for European breeds, so weight loss is minimal. In fact, Moroccan goats need only about a third the water to digest dry matter than European breeds. They eat only enough to maintain their weight and will leave excess feed. This is likely due to the need to remain agile enough to range over large areas to find nourishment in trees and mountainous or semi-desert landscapes.
Sources
- Chentouf, M., 2012. Les ressources génétiques caprine et ovine marocaines. INRA.
- Hossaini-Hilaii, J. and Benlamlih, S., 1995. La chèvre Noire Marocaine capacités d’adaptation aux conditions arides. Animal Genetic Resources, 15, 43–48.
- Boujenane, I., Derqaoui, L., and Nouamane, G., 2016. Morphological differentiation between two Moroccan goat breeds. Journal of Livestock Science and Technologies, 4(2), 31–38.
- Ibnelbachyr, M., Boujenane, I., and Chikhi, A., 2015. Morphometric differentiation of Moroccan indigenous Draa goat based on multivariate analysis. Animal Genetic Resources, 57, 81–87.
- Ibnelbachyr, M., Colli, L., Boujenane, I., Chikhi, A., Nabich, A., and Piro, M., 2017. Genetic differentiation of draa indigenous breed and relationships with other goat populations assessed by microsatellite DNA markers. Iranian Journal of Applied Animal Science, 7(4), 621–629.
- Benjelloun, B., Alberto, F.J., Streeter, I., Boyer, F., Coissac, E., Stucki, S., BenBati, M., Ibnelbachyr, M., Chentouf, M., Bechchari, A., and Leempoel, K., 2015. Characterizing neutral genomic diversity and selection signatures in indigenous populations of Moroccan goats (Capra hircus) using WGS data. Frontiers in Genetics, 6, 107.
- Hobart, E., 2022. The real story behind Morocco’s tree-climbing goats. National Geographic.
- Charpentier, D., 2009. Maroc: L’Arganier, la Chèvre, l’huile d’Argan. Monde des Moulins, 27.
- Mohamed, C., Dhaoui, A., and Ben-Nasr, J., 2021. Economics and Profitability of Goat Breeding in the Maghreb Region. In Goat Science-Environment, Health and Economy. IntechOpen.
- FAO Domestic Animal Diversity Information System (DAD-IS)
Originally published in the July/August 2023 issue of Goat Journal and regularly vetted for accuracy.
