2022 Volume 71 Issue 2 Pages 47-52
Milk samples were collected from the animals of some Cetaartiodactyla, Bovidae species [one animal of scimitar oryx (Oryx) and addax (Addax), two animals of bharal (Pseudois), one animal of markhor (Capra), three animals of sitatunga (Tragelaphus), and one animal of eland (Taurotragus)], which were bred at Himeji Central Park. Among them, the milks were collected at different days of lactation from each one animal of addax, bharal, sitatunga and eland. The concentration of protein in colostra of scimitar oryx and eland was high as similar to that of cows, while that of sitatunga was rather similar in colostrum and mature milk. The protein concentrations in the mature milks were rather higher in these species than those of domestic dairy animals (cows, goats and sheep). It was likely that the concentrations of lipids varied largely in milks of different animals and different lactation days even in same species; this variation was likely to be larger than those in domestic dairy animals. From the obtained data, it was suggested that the patterns of the variation of milk compositions during the lactation were different among these species and also from those of the domestic dairy animals, even though the tendency of increasing of carbohydrate concentration is likely to be common among the species.
