Microlivestock Little-Known Small Animals with a Promising Economic Future (1991) / Chapter Skim
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19 Grasscutter
19 Grasscutter
Pages 233-240
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From page 233... ...
They furnish breeding stock and information, and maintain central offices for records. In addition, a bilateral cooperation project in Benin has started experimental work on improved breeding methods combined with the study of animal responses under domestication.3 In future, this vegetarian animal might become the African equivalent of South America's guinea pig, playing an important role in reducing Africa's chronic protein shortage.
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From page 234... ...
The rounded nose and ears, the spiny fur on the back, and the very shalt tail all distinguish it from true rats. The handlike forepaws are adept at holding and manipulating grass stalks.
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From page 235... ...
Distribution is determined by availability of adequate or preferred grass species for food. Specifically, Thryonomys swinderianus occurs in virtually all countries of west, east, and southern Africa.
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From page 236... ...
They particularly favor elephant grass and sweet potatoes. They commonly "raid" cassava and yam plantations, and are considered local pests.
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From page 237... ...
Ghanaian researcher Emanuel Asibey, a pioneer of this research, reports success at getting such captive stocks to reproduce. To this end, farmers are provided with breeding boxes and foundation grass 7 Information from E.S.
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From page 238... ...
The average killing-out (dressed carcass) is 64 percent.8 The Wildlife Domestication Unit of Ibadan University in Nigeria, another pioneer of rodent domestication, has also reported the potential of domesticated grasscutter colonies.9 Research on grasscutter breeding, husbandry, and feeding is similarly being implemented by the Ministry for Rural Development in Benin and at the Lacena in Ivory Coast (see Research Contacts)
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From page 239... ...
; · Performance under different environments; · Productivity; and · Basic biology (for example, chromosome type, reproductive physiology, and social behavior both in its wild state and under controlled conditions)
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