Importing Animals

10.9.1 Importing Animals Many livestock improvement projects import breeding animals to rapidly improve the productivity of the local breeds. There are advantages and disadvantages to importing breeding animals.

Advantages: Improvements in productivity of the livestock occur within a few generations.

Disadvantages: Importing animals may be expensive and risky. The risk is that imported animals may become sick or die because they have less resistance to local diseases, or cannot adapt to local conditions, feeds, or management systems. Also, imported animals may cost more in terms of money, labor, feeding, treatment, and maintenance. Many livestock improvement projects have failed because the local livestock producers were not ready to provide the type of management or feed that imported animals require.