Thoroughbreds are more and more inbred, alert The Economist. As the breeding season continues, the British weekly is worried about the repercussions for the animals, which have been crossed between cousins for generations.
Today laughs The Economist, “Eugenics is no longer in fashion”. At least in humans. The situation is different for racehorses. In the midst of the breeding season, the British journal took an interest in the genetic heritage of thoroughbreds. “These are the aristocrats of the horse world, he says with humor. They’re fancy, they have weird sex, and they’re a little too inbred. ”
According to a report published by the journal Scientific Reports, the inbreeding rate of these racehorses is very high. Of the 10,000 animals studied by the researchers, only 3% did not count among their ancestors the horse Northern Dancer, an English thoroughbred born in 1961. At the time, this stallion reproduced about 40 times a year. Currently, the breeders mate with nearly 200 mares annually, which suggests that the rate of inbreeding is increasing.
For a long time, the
[…]
–
Source
Great institution of the British press, The Economist, founded in 1843 by a Scottish hat maker, is the bible for anyone interested in international news. Openly liberal, he generally defends free trade,
[…]
Read more –
