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"These cattle have been bred and selected for all the right reasons-production or perish!"

                                                                                                                  Australian Breeder

THE TULI - A TRUE SOUTH AFRICAN  BREED

Tuli cattle are descendants of the Sanga cattle brought into southern Africa by migrating tribes ca. 700 AD. In due course these Sangas, the true indigenous cattle of the region, came to occupy most of the country south of the Zambezi. With the passing of centuries, as the Sanga cattle adapted by natural selection to the various ecological regions in which they found themselves, subtle differences developed in the population and became the basis of several breeds. In modern times, these differences have been exploited in the development of breeds such as Tulis and Inkones (from the arid sweet veld of Zimbabwe), Mashonas (from the sour Highveld of Zimbabwe) and other breeds. In the 1940s, the then government of Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) through the agency and urging of Mr. Len Harvey, a Land Development Officer, bought a basic breeding herd of highly fertile Tswana-type cattle with good milking qualities from tribesmen in the vicinity of the Tuli River in south western Zimbabwe. The heritability of these traits are generally regarded as low; in fact, the difficulties encountered in breeding fertility and milk production into herds are universally acknowledged. Because the basic stock already possessed these desirable characteristics further selection effort could be focused on the highly heritable traits such as meat production and conformation. The result has been the rapid development of a highly fertile, naturally polled pure indigenous breed with excellent beef and milk qualities.

  As a consequence of their ancestry and breeding, Tulis are best suited for production under extensive farming conditions. Under these conditions, their hardiness, trouble-free calving, good mothering instincts, resistance to African diseases and parasites and their ability to optimally utilize the veld can be exploited for maximum production at minimal cost. In addition, they have the advantage of being an early maturing and docile breed.

Today the Tuli is not only found all over South Africa but also throughout the southern African region including Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and of course Zimbabwe, attesting to their ability to produce well in extremely divers ecological regions.

Tuli cattle excelled in historic comparative trials conducted with five pure breeds under extensive ranching conditions in Botswana. In these trials, the Tulis realized a calving rate of 86.6% and a mortality rate of calves up to two years of only 7.2%, a clear indication of how well the breed is adapted to harsh environments. The average production realized by Tulis in these trials was a remarkable 230.8 kg calf mass per cow year.

After their introduction in 1977, the genetic base of the South African Tulis was broadened by regular importation from Zimbabwe of superior breeding stock. Largely as a result of these importations we are now in the favourable position of having a gene pool of sufficient size to meet all our future breeding requirements.  This is indeed fortunate because the current crisis in the cattle industry there makes the possibility of imports of Tuli bloodstock from Zimbabwe in the near future extremely unlikely.

In recent years a number of breeders have actively participated in the National Beef Cattle Improvement Scheme, with great success. In 1985, 2000, 2001 and 2002 Tuli breeders were among the recipients of the prestigious Farmer’s Weekly trophies for Best Producing Cows. Cows who qualify for this award represent only 0.01% of the total number of cows participating in the above scheme – an indication of the high standards required for these awards. In the central performance tests (Phase C) Tuli bulls have done extremely well. In 2000 the 3 Tuli bulls participating averaged a food conversion rate (FCR) of 4.99 – beating all other breeds in the test that year. It therefore comes as no surprise that Tuli crosses perform outstandingly in feedlots – findings suppported by research in Australia. In 2000, largely as a result of a cooperation agreement between the South African and Zimbabwe Societies, BLUP breeding values for 21647 Tuli’s became available for the first time. The positive impact of having these estimated breeding values can already be detected. The most recent development is the establishment of a State herd under the management of the Agricultural Research Council – Animal Improvement Institute at Loskop South which will greatly enhance further research.

In contrast to some continents like Australia and the Americas, Africa is fortunate to have its own indigenous cattle. It is therefore not surprising that cattlemen from these two continents have been quick to recognize the potential of fertile, low maintenance breeds, adapted to harsh conditions.  Thirteen breeds were evaluated by the Australian CSIRO with a view to improving production in tropical areas such as Queensland. The Tuli is one of the two breeds selected on the basis of these studies. As a result, two hundred and sixty nine Tuli embryos from Zimbabwe were implanted into recipient cows on the Cocos Islands in the Pacific Ocean in the early nineties. The Tuli calves born in isolation there were transferred to the Australia, where they formed the basis of the many Tuli herds now thriving there. From Australia the breed spread to North and South America, with South Africa also contributing to this internationalization of Tulis by exporting embryos to North America.

Australian and American cattlemen are attracted by the  breed’s productivity, hardiness, and notable meat quality, especially for cross breeding purposes. As one would expect, the Tuli (being a Bos taurus type and thus genetically very different) crosses very well with Bos indicus breeds. Tulis also niche nicely with British and European breeds, amongst others, owing  to the similarities in their conformations. Although also a Bos taurus type, Tulis  are genetically very divergent from their Northern Hemisphere counterparts, having for centuries developed separately from them. This wide genetic difference accounts for the strong hybrid vigour seen in Tuli x European/British breed crosses. Apart from hybrid vigour, Tulis are much sought after in cross breeding programmes for their inherent ease of calving (small calves), excellent meat quality (good marbling and  tenderness), early maturation and polledness. 

As a consequence of the interest displayed in Tulis abroad, almost all the recent research on the potential of this breed has been carried out in Australia and the USA. It has been said that the Tuli is one of the most extensively researched breeds to have recently been introduced into the USA.

Tulis are now receiving the international recognition they deserve.

  FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

President:            Mr. Stephan Welz

Tuli Cattle Breeder’s Society of South Africa:

PO Box 52431; SAXONWOLD; 2132 SOUTH AFRICA

Telephone:            [(+27 11) int. (011) local] 8803125

Fax:                  [(+27 11) int. (011) local] 8802656

E-mail:              saw@chc.co.za

WHAT THE NORTH AMERICAN TULI ASSOCLATION HAS TO SAY ABOUT OUR TULI

     “ The Tuli breed can provide the missing link to bridge the gap in cattle genetics. That gap being adaption to heat and nutritional stress combined with carcass merit."

Dr. JW(Bill) Holloway, Director of Research Texas A&M Research & Experiment Center, Uvalde,,Texas

What exactly are Tuli Cattle?

Tulis are moderate framed pure African Sanga cattle.The name”'Tuli” comes from the Ndebele word .”utilili” meaning dust, which vividly brings to mind a picture of the harsh, arid environment in which the tuli developed. They thrived in the most adverse conditions and endured unbearably hot days and cold nights, which enabled them to adapt to both hot and cold climates today.

What makes Tuli different from other breeds?

Perhaps the most important difference is that while they exhibit an amazing ability to withstand heat, ticks and nutritional stress, they are a bos taurus breed excelling in the traits that the bos inducus or zebu breeds do not.

The trait  so many cattle raisers are excited about is their carcass merit. In study after study over the past five years, the Tuli breed has performed as well or better than most domestic breeds (including Angus) in the areas of quality grade, marbling, tenderness and ribeye area.

Carcass merit: How do they stack up?

          (Research results from Clay Center, Nebraska)    

Ribeye Area

Tuli had more ribeye/pound of carcass when expressed on a per unit of weight basis.

Meat Quality

The Shear score indicate that Tuli meat requires less force to penetrate,which translates to more tender meat.

Marbling Score

Slaughter  done at IBP in Amarillo. Tuli scored much higher than Brahman and edged out Angus.

Taste Panel

Tests included both Tuli and Brahman crossed to both Angus and Hereford. Tuli scored highest surpassing  Angus.

What other traits do they excel in?

Fertility and matemal strength.They are exeptionally fertile. Females have nearly  picture perfect udders and are excellent milkers.

Calving Ease. Low average birth weights of 65-70 pounds.

Dispositon.Very quiet and easy to handle.

Outcross Genotype. Genetically unrelated to any beef breeds currently in the U>S>Polled.                         

Polled. 70%-80% are naturally polled.

Solid Colour. Range from light silver to deep red. 

Moderate frame. Low maintenance.

Adaptability. Fat is stored internally, not subcutaneously as with most British breeds. Fat is easily mobilised to excel under heat and nutritional stress.

U.S.Data Confirms Tuli Fertility

Ironically,for a breed indigenous to southern africa, the largest body of research on Tuli cattle is being carried out in the U.S.A. At last count there are some twenty students using Tuli data in their Ph.D theses at various universities across the U.S.

One of the main Tuli research projects is being done at Texas A&M University and they have recently published some interesting data on fertility, that appears to confirm what cattlemen in South Africa and Zimbabwe have known for a long time-the Tuli female has an advantage over other breeds in this important area. The latest results can be seen in the graph below.

The bottom line is that the Tuli/Angus cross females has the highest conception rate, the highest birth and weaning percentages and thus greater overall reproductive efficiency than either the Brahman or the Senepol/Angus females.

Scientific papers and popular information material

1.     JORDAAN, J.C., 1975. Tuli storm voort op beespad. Landbouweekblad, 11 November, No. 45: 8-13

2.   Ten years of animal production and range research in Botswana, 1980. Animal Production Research Unit, Ministry of Agriculture, Private Bag 0033, Gaberone, Botswana

3.     KNOETZE, T., 1981. Zimbabwe se Tuli's verras bosveldbase. Landbouweekblad, 28 Augustus, No. 118: 38-41

4.     Animal importations into Australia, 1989. Report of the Working Party for the Animal Health Committee of the Standing Committee on Agriculture, SCA Technical Report Series-No. 24, Canberra

5.     CSIRO, Australia, Annual Report, 1993-94: 21

6.     FRISCH, J.E., DRINKWATER, R., HARRISON, B. & JOHNSON, S. 1997. Classification of southern African sanga and East African zebu. Animal Genetics, 28: 77-83

7.     HERRING, A.D., SANDERS, J.O., KNUTSON, R.E. & LUNT, D.K., 1996. Evaluation of F₁ calves sired by Brahman, Boran and Tuli bulls for birth, growth, size and carcass characters. Journal of Animal Science, 74: 955-964

8.     FRISCH, J.E. 1997. CPA Beef Forum: Production for Profit. Tropical Beef Centre, PO Box 5545, Rockhampton Mail Centre, Queensland 4702, Australia