Paper presented at the 52nd CFCS Annual Meeting, Guadeloupe, July 10-16, 2016 Buffalo meat is well marbled and noted as being very delicious to eat, there are no major differences by viewing cattle beef and buffalo beef, hence there is no drawback in this egger to being placed on the markets for sale and consumption by consumers, sensory evaluations performed using different types of beef showed that buffalo meat commanded excellent consumer acceptance, these results are presented in the following table: Health and Reproduction: Observations done on reproduction and health in 2004, showed the following Heifers exposed to bulls at 350kg body weight at 21 months old showed 75 % pregnancy ratios, there were no observed abortions with less than 1% still births, no dystocia was observed. The breed is resistant to major infectious diseases including ecto and endo parasites (ticks) and tick borne diseases and foot and mouth diseases. Future There are only 5,000 Buffaloes in Trinidad, only half of which are Buffalypso breed. There are no conservation methods employed for the breed. The breed has been exported to other countries including USA, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela. To preserve biodiversity of traits that may be important for further development and for food security the Buaffalypso breed needs to be preserved and further breeding research should be supported. References “Trinidad – Day 2 (There’s a Lot of Pics in This Post!!).” 2016. Accessed April 15. http://firepanjewellery.com/archives/1777. “CEROS II in Trinidad and Tobago.” 2016. Accessed April 15. http://www.imv-technologies.com/news-detail/items/ ceros-ii.html. “Where Oh Where Have the Buffalypso Gone?” 2016. Accessed April 15. http://www.trinigourmet.com/index.php/ where-oh-where-have-the-buffalypso-gone-video/. Torres Gómez, Edgar A. n.d. “BÚFALOS: UNA ESPECIE PROMISORIA Volver a: Producción de Búfalos.” Bennet, S. P., G. W. Garcia, and P. Lampkin. 2010. “The Buffalypso: The Water Buffalo of Trinidad and Tobago.” Italian Journal of Animal Science 6 (2s). doi:10.4081/ijas.2007.s2.179. Bennett, S P, G W Garcia, and P Lampkin. 2007. “The Buffalypso: The Water Buffalo of Trinidad and Tobago.” Ital.J.anIm.ScI 6: 179–83.
Colour of Meat Colour of Fat Texture Taste General Acceptability % Overall Acceptance
Tobago Local Steer Water Buffalo 6.6 7 5.5 6.4 7.4 7.4 7.8 8 7.3 7.8 69.3 76.6
Imported Frozen Meat 6.9 6.1 7.3 7.5 7.5 70.7
Table 1 : Gourmet Card Scores for Types of Beef (Each Score out of 10)
Meat:
Milk
Characteristic Observed Performance Avearge Daily Gain 0.5 kg/day Feed Conversion Efficiencies - DMI/kg - ADG/kg 7.31 - 10.04 Kg Dessing Percentage (DP) 55-58% REA 68-86cm2 DP - Slaughtered Animals , 14-20 months old 48 - 51% Heifer performance between weights of 150-250kg 0.7kg/day Fat 7.15% Protein 4.03% Solids Non Fat 8.84% Total Solids 16.97% Calcium 0.23% Ash 0.85% Lactose 5.60% Table 2 Observations performed on Buffalypso Breed
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