Yonaguni horse

The Yonaguni or Yonaguni uma (与那国馬) is a critically-endangered Japanese breed of small horse. It is native to Yonaguni Island, in the Yaeyama Islands in south-western Japan, close to Taiwan. It is one of eight horse breeds native to Japan.

Yonaguni
On Yonaguni Island
Conservation statusFAO (2007): critical
Country of originJapan
DistributionYonaguni Island
Traits
Height
  • Male:
    average 120 cm[1]
  • Female:
    average 116 cm[1]

History

In 1968 there were 210 Yonaguni horses. By the early 1980s, the number had fallen to little more than fifty. Numbers subsequently recovered slightly;[2]: 94  85 head were recorded in 2008.[1] The conservation status of the breed was listed as "critical" by the FAO in 2007.[3]: 71 

In 2003, genetic analysis using microsatellite data found the Yonaguni to be most closely related to the Miyako and Tokara small-island breeds, and less closely related to various Mongolian horse breeds than were the Dosanko and Kiso breeds of the main islands of Japan.[4]: 378 

Characteristics

Like the other Japanese island breeds, the Yonaguni is small. Average height at the withers is 116–120 cm (11.2–11.3 h).[1]

References
  1. Breed data sheet: Yonaguni/Japan . Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2017.
  2. [Editorial Committee Office of the Japanese Country Report, Animal Genetic Resources Laboratory, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Japan] ([n.d.]). Country Report (For FAO State of the World’s Animal Genetic Resources Process); annex to: Barbara Rischkowsky, D. Pilling (editors) (2007). The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Accessed June 2017.
  3. Barbara Rischkowsky, D. Pilling (eds.) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Accessed June 2017.
  4. T. Tozaki, N. Takezaki, T. Hasegawa, N. Ishida, M. Kurosawa, M. Tomita, N. Saitou, H. Mukoyama (2003). Microsatellite Variation in Japanese and Asian Horses and Their Phylogenetic Relationship Using a European Horse Outgroup. Journal of Heredity 94 (5): 374–380. doi:10.1093/jhered/esg079. (subscription required).
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