West African dwarf goat
Goats in Kabala, Sierra Leone | |
| Conservation status | FAO (2007): not at risk: 146 |
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| Other names |
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| Distribution | |
| Traits | |
| Weight |
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| Height |
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| Horn status | usually horned in both sexes |
| Beard | males often bearded: 416 |
| Tassels | sometimes present |
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The West African Dwarf is a large and variable breed or group of breeds of domestic goat from coastal West and Central Africa, a range extending approximately from Senegal to Congo. It is characterised by achondroplasia or dwarfism, a trait that may have evolved in response to conditions in the humid forests of the area, and also by some degree of resistance to tsetse-borne trypanosomiasis or "sleeping-sickness".: 106
There are many regional strains or breeds within the group; other names for the group as a whole include African Dwarf, Djallonké or Fouta Jallon, Grassland Dwarf or Chèvre Naine des Savanes, Guinean or Guinean Dwarf, Forest Goat and Pygmy.: 416 : 52