Cattlemen's Texas Longhorn Conservancy

1. We seek to genetically define the old-time Texas Longhorn, to assure conservation of those genetic markers.
2. We educate the public on the value of these heritage genetics and why conservation is critical.
3. We provide an on-line library of criollo breeds research publications.

1. We worked with the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at the University of California, Davis to build a conservation genetics control database from which to compare animals for qualification. This data in combination with the 500+ SNP genotypes we have assembled using the Illumina 50K bead chip at GeneSeek is being used to build a comprehensive analysis capable of detecting indicine and other taurine breed introgression. We are partnering with Invictus Informatics, LLC in a research project to define the genetic signature of this breed.

2. We use our website to make available to educators curricula for all three levels of public schools and link research documents for students of higher education. Our website and YouTube channel provide historical materials of interest to all ages.

Our board consists of members with a diverse knowledge base and networks reaching many sectors. We all share the love of this living legend and desire to preserve this dynamic piece of history for generations to come.

We work with leading geneticists in the field and are assembling a collection of conservation semen to ensure the ​future availability of valuable genetics.

Animals our organization identified as historically correct were discovered by the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at the ​University of California, Davis to possess a new Y-haplotype never before seen by researchers in criollo genetics in all counties. The haplotype is appropriate for Texas Longhorns and may indicate evidence of traits unique to the breed derived by natural selection. We continue to seek the right person or organization to develop an algorithm for us that uses the genetic markers assembled from mitochondrial profiles and the indicine percentages from our current SNP analysis to map individual animals’ origin percentages as have been developed for humans and dogs.

In preparation for creating a documentary about the Texas longhorn and the people who raise them, we filmed interviews of four long-time breeders that record their memories of growing up on Texas ranches. Excerpts of these interviews were made into a 15-minute educational video.