Africanis - History

History

There is ample evidence that canine domestication took place in Asia. The traditional African dog is a descendant of dogs that had been domesticated in the East and came to Africa. Their earliest presence has been established in Egypt and dated at 4700 BC. Archaeological records show that, from then on, the dog spread rapidly along the Nile into Sudan and even beyond. At the same time, migrations, trade, and transhumance took it deep into the Sahara. By 2000 BC, this moving frontier stopped for a long period. Meanwhile, throughout the Egyptian dynasties, the breeding of swift and slender hounds together with a variety of common dogs became very popular.

For thousands of years, the aboriginal San (Bushman) populations in Southern Africa hunted without the help of dogs. Although the Khoikhoi brought domestic sheep along a western migratory route to the Cape of Good Hope just before the Christian era, there is no conclusive evidence that dogs were part of their party.

The domestic dog first arrived in Southern Africa with the migration of the Early Iron Age Bantu speaking people. Dogs of Nilotic origin consecutively joined the Early and also Later Iron Age migrations. It is generally accepted that these migrations traveled along the Albertine Rift and the Lake region. They followed tsetse-free corridors through Zambia and Zimbabwe to reach Botswana and finally South Africa. The earliest evidence for the presence of a domestic dog in South Africa has been established by Dr. Ina Plug, deputy director of the Transvaal Museum. The remains were found near the Botswana border and dated at 570 AD. By 650 AD the presence of the house dog is established in the Lower Thukela valley. By 800 AD it is part of a Khoisan settlement in Cape St. Francis, indicating that contact and trade between Bantu and Khoisan had been established.

For hundreds of years this exclusive primitive canine gene pool adapted to various conditions of the Southern African landscape and, through natural selection, evolved into ecotypes all belonging to the same landrace. It is sometimes argued that dogs brought by the Arab trade, Eastern seafarers, and Portuguese explorers might, over the years, have "contaminated" the traditional African dog. In other opinions, these chances are scant. Exotic canine influences became more likely after the colonisation of Transkei and Zululand during the 19th century.

The true Africanis is still found today in tribal areas where people maintain their traditional lifestyle. The fast-changing South Africa and the impact that this causes on rural societies, together with a certain disdain for the traditional dog and the status that the ownership of an exotic breed provides, poses an increasing threat to the continuation of the aboriginal Africanis. The Africanis Society of Southern Africa was founded to conserve this ancient gene pool. Conserving the Africanis as a landrace stands for conserving biodiversity. The society has been praised as an ethically responsible canine association.

The Africanis is recognized by the Kennel Union of Southern Africa (KUSA) as an emerging breed.