Senepol
(most common name)
(transboundary/brand name)

(local/other name):
• Nelthropp
• Sénépole (Mali)

The Senepol began with imported West African N’Dama cattle (initially named ‘Senegal’ cattle on St. Croix) that were crossed in 1918 with a single imported English Red Poll sire by one breeder — Mr Nelthropp. Criollo cattle, probably the Romosinuano (another polled breed) were later also used.

The goal was to develop a more productive tropically adaptive breed. This led to a polled red-coated breed with good beef conformation.

The Senepol has been extensively used in the tropics and Africa and appears to be as heat tolerant as the Brahman.

Because the Senepol is 90% European taurine in genotype, its tropical adaptiveness has been investigated (Flori and Gautier, 2012). Findings point to a dominant gene at the so-called slick locus coding for a coat consisting of very short thin fibers which provides more heat tolerance due to some combination of increased sweating and reflection of ambient solar radiation. (The slick hair gene is also found in the Romosinuano and Carora.)

This page was last updated on: 2024-07-09

You can also go to:

My Daily Cow® USA and read about other American cattle breeds.

The Cow Wall® A-Z Cattle Breed Picture Reference to see other breeds of cattle in the world.