Aayvagam an International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research | Volume No. 1 | Issue No. 12 | January 2014 4

PHYSICAL AND PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF : AN INDIGENOUS OF T. Ravimurugan 1, *S.M.K. Karthickeyan 2, A. Hisham 2 and S.N. Sivaselvam 2 1Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, Veterinary College and Research Institute, – 627001 (India) 2Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, Madras Veterinary College, Chennai – 600 007 (India) * Author for Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract

The Kanni dog, a medium-sized, sight- breed seen in , is studied to assess the distribution and breed characteristics. The main breeding tract of this dog is Tirunelveli district of southern Tamil Nadu. The features are black and white / brown coat, black nostrils, black eyes, broad chest and tucked up abdomen. The overall means of body length, height at withers, chest girth, belly girth, ear length and tail length in adults were 60.28 ± 1.10, 59.86 ± 0.93, 59.38 ± 1.00, 38.95 ± 0.57, 10.88 ± 0.15 and 39.20 ± 0.63 cm respectively. Sex had no significant effect on body length, height at withers and chest girth. This study shows that Kanni dog breed is a medium-sized indigenous sight hound dog of Tamil Nadu requiring conservation measures.

Key words : Morphology, morphometry, performance characteristics, Kanni dog

Introduction

India has got a vast array of many species of domestic and companion animals. Dog has been the important companion animal since time immemorial. India has the privilege of having excellent dog breeds like Rajapalayam, , Kombai, Kanni, Mudhol Hound, Rampur Hound, Caravan Hound, Banjara Hound, Bhotia sheep dog, Himalayan sheep dog, Alangu, Kaikadi, Indian Spitz, Bakharwal and Jonangi. The state of Tamil Nadu in southern India is blessed with four indigenous dog breeds, of which, Kanni is one among them. It is a sight-hound type, utilized mainly for hunting. It is a rare indigenous south Indian dog breed found in and around , Tuticorin and Tirunelveli districts (Selvakkumar et al ., 2013). The Kanni , which means maiden in , was considered as a further extension of the Caravan or Mudhol Hound, and was also a descendant of the (Ravimurugan and Kumaravelu, 2008; Srinivasan, 2011). Only a few preliminary studies have been made so far about this wonderful breed. Hence the present study was undertaken to assess the breed characteristics using morphometric measurements and physical traits.

Materials and methods

The study was conducted during November, 2013 in Ukkirankottai, Maruthapuram, Parvathiapuram villages in Tirunelveli district and Elayirampannai, E.Rettiapatti, Sivasangupuram of Virudhunagar district of southern Tamil Nadu where a total of 50 dog owners / villagers maintaining these were surveyed. Age of the dog was recorded after careful personal interaction with the owners. Various physical traits like body colour, shape of face, eyes, nostrils, patches present on the body and morphology of ear, chest, abdomen and tail were recorded through observation as well as physical examination.

Morphometric measurements such as body length, height at withers, chest girth, belly girth, length of head, length of muzzle, ear length, ear width, height at rump and length of tail were recorded as suggested by Gonzalez et al . (2011) and Leite et al . (2011). These measurements were recorded accurately in cm (with a precision of 0.5 cm) using a measuring tape when the dog was in normal standing position.

The reference points for measuring the morphometric variables were as follows.

Body length : distance from point of shoulder to point of buttock. Length of head : distance from tip of nose to occipital. Muzzle length : from tip of nose to the line joining the edges of internal eye. Tail length : from the dorsal edge of base of the tail to its tip. Height at withers : distance between ground and withers at standing posture. Height at rump : distance between ground and rump at standing posture. Chest girth : circumference around the chest just after the front limb. Belly girth : circumference around belly. Ear length : distance from the end of external acoustic meatus to the tip of apex of ear. Ear width : width at the base of the ear.

Aayvagam an International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research | Volume No. 1 | Issue No. 12 | January 2014 5 The data collected were subjected to standard statistical analyses as per Snedecor and Cochran (1989). Student’s ‘t’ test was carried out to find whether there was any significant difference in body length, height at withers and chest girth between sexes.

Results and discussion

Breeding tract

The Kanni dogs were bred in and around Tirunelveli, Kovilpatti, Kazhugumalai, Kileral, Kodangipatti, Sivakasi and which form the major breeding tract of the breed. About 100 – 120 villagers in the tract breed the Kanni dogs. More than 200 Kanni dogs are being reared in the main breeding tract itself. The breeding tract is having a subtropical climate and generally dry except in monsoon seasons. The elevation of the tract ranges from 70 to 500m above mean sea level (MSL). The average annual rainfall is 736.5 mm with major contribution from northeast monsoon (429.8 mm) followed by summer rains (141.9 mm) and south west monsoon (92.6 mm). The relative humidity ranges between 44.6 and 76.5 per cent. The mean minimum and maximum temperatures varies from 21°C to 27.5°C and 28°C to 38.5°C respectively. The majority of the study area consists of black and red soil.

Morphology

The predominant body colour of Kanni dog is black (Figs. 1 and 2). White or brown patches are also seen on ventral aspect of thigh and underbelly. The skin is tight and grey in colour. Their coat is short and smooth. They have a conical shaped black coloured head which is having white / light brown stripes with black nostrils. Eyes are usually black in colour and occasionally reddish brown eyed animals are also seen. The colour of eye lashes varies from black to light brown. The ears are semi-drooping. The neck is long and moderately muscular. The body is compact with broad chest and tucked up abdomen giving an appearance of hound type dog. Strong, moderately muscular long legs has helped them to be swift runners and good hunters. The tail is long and bony with a slightly upward and forward curl. Our findings are in agreement with an earlier studies by Ravimurugan and Kumaravelu (2008) and Selvakkumar et al (2013) who also reported that Kanni was agile, slim, graceful medium-sized dog, usually black and tan in colour with limited white on the feet and chest having a deep chest, tucked up belly and slim body.

Morphometric measurements

The means for various body measurements are furnished in Table 1. The overall means for the principal body measurements such as body length, height at withers and chest girth were found to be 60.28 ± 1.10, 59.86 ± 0.93 and 59.38 ± 1.00 cm respectively. The tail length averaged 39.20 ± 0.63 cm. The mean ear length recorded for Kanni dogs was 10.88 ± 0.15 cm. The height at rump as well as belly girth were also measured which were found to be 60.10 ± 1.28 and 38.95 ± 0.57 cm respectively. There was no significant difference between sexes for body length, height at withers and chest girth. Previous study by Porchezhian and Selvakkumar (2010) on 20 Kanni dogs showed higher height (66.4 ± 0.54 cm), girth (67.7 ± 0.33 cm), body length (68.01 ± 0.62 cm), tail length (41.7 ± 0.33 cm), ear length (12.6 ± 0.27 cm) and ear width (11.1 ± 0.23 cm).

The mean body length, height at withers suggest that Kanni is a medium-sized dog. Yilmaz (2007) classified the hound dogs based on height and specified a range of 51 to 70 cm for medium-sized dog and the Kanni dog having a mean height of 59.86 cm falls within the range. The mean belly girth as well as chest girth indicate that it could be classified under hound type of dogs. It was reported that in sight hound anatomy, the chest should be deeper and the abdomen be narrower than in other dog breeds (Yilmaz and Ertugrul, 2011). It is normally accepted that the chest and abdomen depth are very important traits to evaluate speed of sight hound. Secondly speed factor in sight hound depends on strength of its hind legs (Yilmaz and Ertugrul, 2011). Therefore, Kanni dogs with deep chest, narrow abdomen and strong legs can thus be considered as a sight hound.

Mean height (59.86 ± 0.93cm) of Kanni observed in the present study shows that it is taller than other hound dogs like Italian (33-38cm; Italy) and (47-51cm; UK) dogs; but shorter than that of (66-81cm; Russia), Greyhound (69-78cm; UK), (81-86cm; Ireland), and Turkish Tazi (70cm; Turkey) (Yilmaz and Ertugrul, 2011). Their height is similar to the height of other canine breeds such as Rampur Greyhound (60-75cm; India), Saluki (58-71cm; Middle Eastern), (61-73cm; Afghan), Arabian Greyhound (61-72cm; Morocco) and (53-64cm; Malta) dogs, as reported by Yilmaz and Ertugrul (2011).

Performance characteristics and husbandry

The Kanni dogs are usually bred by natural service. In a single whelping, four to eight puppies were born. The age at first heat in dogs ranged from 12 to 14 months. They were first allowed for mating at around 18 months of age and their age at first whelping ranged from 20 to 24 months. Usually in a year, single whelping takes place with a whelping interval of 10 to 12 months. Most of the times, the breedable males are selected from the same group which the pet owners reared. The practice of using males from the same litter for breeding would result in considerable amount of inbreeding. But some of the villagers maintained separate male dogs for breeding. Males for breeding are selected based on the speed and hunting Aayvagam an International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research | Volume No. 1 | Issue No. 12 | January 2014 6 ability. They are given a diet comprising of milk, rice porridge and egg. Meat is given once in a week or once in a month only. No scientific housing is provided for them.

Deworming is regular; pups dewormed once in a month initially and adult dogs once in six months. Antirabies vaccination is regularly done but the owners are reluctant to administer other vaccines like multicomponent vaccines against canine distemper, parvo viral infection, leptospirosis etc. due to the high cost. Except for some occasional skin problems these dogs are resistant to most of the communicable diseases. They are hardier and resistant to diseases compared to the foreign breeds as they evolved over the years braving the managemental practices and climate of the breeding tract. These dogs are comparatively less heat tolerant compared to Chippiparai and Kombai, the other native dog breeds of Tamil Nadu due to its black coat. But they are agile and have great speed. These dogs are frequently (once in a week) used for hunting hare in the nearby forest. Only minimal cost was required to maintain this breed. They are affectionate towards the owner; but at the same time the Kanni dog is alert against strangers.

Conclusion

This study shows that Kanni is a unique germplasm, distinct from other dog breeds. It is a good companion animal as well as a courageous and faithful guard dog. The present study shows that it is a medium-sized indigenous sight hound dog of Tamil Nadu. The population size of Kanni dog breed is going down as it loses out in favour of other indigenous as well as exotic dog breeds. The breed is becoming rare so efforts should be taken to revive this unique canine germplasm. Further, steps should be taken to encourage the pet owners and dog breeders of this breed so that the qualities of the breed could be preserved.

References

1. Gonzalez A, Luque M, Rodero E, Gonzalez C, Aguilera R, Jimenez J, Sepulveda N,Bravo S and Herrera M (2011). Useof morphometric variables for differentiating SpanishHound breeds. International Journal of Morphology 29(4): 1248-1255.

2. Leite TCS, Almeida MJ, Silva, M and Soares JC (2011). Morphometric characterization of Sertanejas breed dogs in SãoJoão do Piauí - PI.Pubvet, 152(5): 1019

3. Porchezhian T and Selvakkumar R (2010). A morphometric study on Kanni, a hound dog breed of Tamil Nadu, India. In:International Conference on Ethnoveterinary Practices, organized by TANUVAS and Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions, Bengaluru, 4-6, January, 2010 at Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. p.152.

4. Ravimurugan T and Kumaravelu N (2008). Dog Rearing and Management. 1 st Ed., Saradha Publishers, Chennai.

5. Selvakkumar R, Murugan, M and Sivakumar, T (2013). Morphometirc characterization of Kanni dog – An indigenous Hound breed of southern Tamil Nadu. Indian Veterinary Journal 90 (8 ): 32-33.

6. Snedecor GW and Cochran WG (1989). Statistical Methods. 8 th Ed. Iowa state University Press, Ames, lowa.pp.xx+503.

7. Srinivasan SR (2011). Present status of dog genetic resources of Tamil Nadu. In: Workshop Manual on Conservation of Animal Genetic Resources of Tamil Nadu, organized by TANUVAS on 23-24, June, 2011 at Chennai, Tamil Nadu. pp.41-50.

8. Yilmaz O (2007). Some morphological characteristics of Kangal dogs raised in various regions of Turkey, University of Ankara, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Animal Science, Ankara, 50.

9. Yilmaz O, and Ertugrul M (2011). Some morphological characteristics of Turkish Tazi (Sight Hound). The Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences 21(4): 794-799.

Aayvagam an International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research | Volume No. 1 | Issue No. 12 | January 2014 7 Table 1. Mean ± S.E. of body measurements (cm) of adult Kanni dogs

Sl. No. Morphometric variable Male Female Overall

62.05 ± 1.98 59.08 ± 1.26 60.28 ± 1.10 1 Body length (13.19) [17] (10.66) [25] (11.91) [42] 21.29 ± 0.50 21.08 ± 0.35 21.16 ± 0.29 2 Length of head (9.79) [17] (8.32) [25] (8.85) [42] 9.88 ± 0.32 9.56 ± 0.23 9.70 ± 0.19 3 Muzzle length (13.33) [17] (12.10) [25] (12.58) [42] 40.17± 1.06 38.52 ±0.76 39.20 ± 0.63 4 Tail length (10.93) [17] (9.83) [25] (10.40) [42] 60.70 ± 1.93 59.28 ± 0.87 59.86 ± 0.93 5 Height at withers (13.10) [17] (7.31) [25] (10.05) [42] 62.65 ± 1.69 58.36 ± 1.77 60.10 ± 1.28 6 Height at rump (11.10) [17] (15.15) [25] (13.84) [42] 60.82 ± 1.77 58.4 ± 1.18 59.38 ± 1.00 7 Chest girth (12.04) [17] (10.07) [25] (11.00) [42] 39.35 ± 0.96 38.68 ± 0.71 38.95 ± 0.57 8 Belly girth (10.04) [17] (9.18) [25] (9.46) [42] 11.00 ± 0.27 10.80 ± 0.18 10.88 ± 0.15 9 Ear length (10.16) [17] (8.45) [25] (9.12) [42] 8.15 ± 0.23 7.74 ± 0.16 7.90 ± 0.14 10 Ear width (11.63) [17] (10.73) [25] (11.28) [42] Figures in parentheses indicate per cent co-efficient of variation Figures in square brackets indicate number of observations

Fig 1. Kanni male dog Fig 2. Kanni female dog