Black Bengal
Black Bengal goat or Bengal Black goat is the common name for a small breed of goat found in Bangladesh and northeastern India (Assam and West Bengal). In Bangladesh, they are known simply as "BBGs."[citation needed]
The predominant coat colour encountered is black, though goats with brown, gray and white coats are also found. The goat hair is short, soft and lustrous.[citation needed] The back is straight, legs are short, and the ears are 11–14 cm in size and pointed forward. Both sexes have horns (5.8-11.5 cm), directed upward or sometimes backward. Beards are often observed in both sexes. The average height of an adult is 50 cm. Adult bucks weigh 16–18 kg and does weigh 12–14 kg.[citation needed]
Economically and culturally, the goat has played an important role in traditional Bengali society.[citation needed] Goat skins were exported to the world market on a large scale in the 18th and 19th centuries.[citation needed] The goat is important for its adaptability, fertility, high productivity, and skin softness. The goats' skin is of superior quality for leather goods, and is in great demand both in domestic and foreign markets.[citation needed] The goat's meat is famous in the area for its tenderness, flavour, and leanness.[citation needed]
The breed is early-maturing, with the first litter occurring at about 12 months. Kidding occurs twice a year or thrice in two years. They have the potential for better fertility and litter size than other similar breeds of goat. In Bangladesh, most goats are kept by women and children; consequently, the production cost is minimal.[citation needed] They are efficient users of grasses, shrubs and various tree leaves which have little alternative use, and can be reared easily with little or no supplement feed. Improved management, using a holistic approach that includes supplemental feed, can yield increased economic returns, however.
In addition, social and economic changes are decreasing the amount of open land for grazing. For these reasons, various nongovernmental and international organizations, including the IAEA, are supporting development programs involving farming of the Black Bengal goat, viewing it as a way to help alleviate poverty.[citation needed] In West Bengal India, two more strains of the Bengal goat have recently been identified by Dr. Sandip Banerjee;[citation needed] they have been named as the Dimpy Bengal, which has the typical Toggenberg pattern and breed true, while the other has been named as Dinglu Bengal, which is white in color and has a star over the forehead and a black tuft of hair over the spinous processes; the strains/breeds are prolific in nature and are quite distinct in themselves.[citation needed][1].
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