The Awassi importation from Israel
1990
More expenditure thanks to MAF
Memories from Dr Robin Tervit: Awassi in Israel
By Dr
Clive Dalton
Information obtained from paper presented
by Dr Jock Allison to NZ Institute of Primary Industry Management, December
2006.
Awassi importation
Interest developed in New Zealand over
the importation of fat-tailed sheep from the Middle East as a potential export
earner for the live sheep trade from New Zealand, which had been developed in
fits and starts in the 1980s. The Awassi and Najdi breeds commanded top
money and there were a few operators willing to give the business a go. Dr Jock Allison led the charge after
working in Saudi Arabia first in 1978 and later in 1985. The company formed
traded under the name of Awassi New Zealand Ltd.
Dr Jock Allison. Photo: Otago Daily Times
Israel was seen as the best source of sheep for a
history of tight veterinary control, and it had the ‘Improved Awassi which was a
strain selected for milk production for 50 years. These animals were very
productive, producing in excess of 500 litres of milk per lactation, being
behind only the East Friesian as a milk producer.
·
The import protocol for Awassi embryos
from Israel took three years to develop in conjunction with MAF and the Maximum
Security Quarantine Advisory Committee (MSQAC). From 1987
onwards Jock visited Israel several times to seek available animals and check the
health status of the Israeli flocks through their Israeli Ministry of
Agriculture.
·
Dr Elisha Gootwine from their main Israeli
research station was a great help, as Invermay had given them some Booroola
rams in about 1983 which over time, Elisha has introduced these Booroola genes
into the Awassi to form the AFEC (Fecundity gene) Awassi. This had increased
litter size by about 0.6 in the AFEC Awassi animals.
· The company paid for MAF Ruakura veterinarian
Gary Clark to travel to Israel to do an official health assessment for MAF, and
after that negotiate the conditions for the importation. This required
considerable funding, and after the 1987 crash funding for such long term and
risky programmes was scarce.
 |
Awassi ewes used for milk production.
Photo: Internet |
·
Eventually the company got most of the
funding from an Australian group that were interested in the Awassi for milk
production. The company had received interest from Saudi Arabia from one of the
royal princes, but in the end the prince couldn’t bring himself to accept
cooperation with Israel for an importation.
·
The company eventually
purchased 65 ewes and 6 rams from a Kibbutz in Northern Israel. As the import
conditions defined any outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease within 25 km of the
sheep would terminate the programme, the sheep were moved south into the Negev
desert to a Moshav where horticultural crops were grown and no livestock kept. A quarantine unit was set up in a
disused turkey shed about 100 km south of where Foot and Mouth disease had ever
been recorded in Israel, so it was assumed that all would be safe.
·
The company leased four shipping
containers and converted them into living quarters and a surgery and embryo
room.
 |
| Dr Robin Tervit |
·
Dr Robin Tervit went to
Israel to freeze the first lot of embryos, and Gavin Struthers was the MAF vet
required to supervise the washing of the embryos before freezing. A MAF
technician had previously supervised the hormone injection programmes, and Jock
did the embryo recovery surgery. Gavin and his wife went on holiday before they
were to return for the second round of embryo recovery a month later. Julia
Aspinal traveled to Israel to undertake the second and third lot of embryo
freezing.
·
Prior to the time of the third embryo collection, tensions
were escalating in the Middle East and war looked imminent. MAF then approved
the sensible view that Israeli veterinarians could supervise the inspection and
washing of the embryos - a decision which would have saved the company a lot of
money on travel for MAF staff needed for two embryo collections.
·
About the time of the third collection of
embryos, Scud Missiles started to fly into Israel courtesy of Saddam Hussein,
and MAF wanted Julia to return home immediately. The company’s Israeli contacts
said she was much safer where she was instead of trying to leave the country
through Tel Aviv. Again common sense prevailed and she returned to NZ about a
week later.
·
Jock says that it
was a great team effort but the embryo recovery was disastrous with only 153
embryos being frozen from the 65 ewes collected three times. Anything that looked remotely normal
was frozen, including many embryos, which might have usually been rejected.
With British breed ewes it would be expected to freeze at least 800 embryos
from the same number of operations. Having put years of work and several
hundred thousand dollars into the project to this stage, this was quite a
stressful time for all involved in the company.
 |
| Awassi ewe in NZ. Photo: Willowbank Internet |
More expenditure thanks to MAF
Jock’s
report continues. A further
situation with MAF caused considerable further over-expenditure on the
programme by the company. The importation conditions required donor ewes to be
tested for a number of diseases at least 10 days after the last collection of
embryos. Here is Jock’s record of the saga:
·
Previously I had proposed in a letter to
the Maximum Security Quarantine Advisory Committee (MSQAC) that we should be
allowed to collect embryos at slaughter, as washed embryos constituted a far
lower risk than importation of samples of lymph nodes, spleen, spinal cord from
donors for inoculation into kid goats as a ‘scrapie bioassay’.
·
This letter got lost and finally a few
months later someone found it, and I received official confirmation from the CVO
Dr Peter O’Hara that we could collect embryos at slaughter. Too late!
 |
| Skud missile. Photo: Internet |
·
If we had known this
decision about the time of my first request, then the programme could have been
done in a little over a month without shifting the sheep to the south. Embryos
could have been collected at slaughter at the time of the second heat, and this
would have avoided the later chaos in Israel with attacks from Iraq and the
first Gulf War. The monetary implications were that we had to spend another
$150,000, this clearly being of no particular interest to MAF.
·
Because of the Gulf War we couldn’t get
the embryos out of the country until months later. When I personally had to
steer the canister through the Israeli customs and back to NZ.
·
After arrival, the 153 embryos were
implanted into recipient ewes on Somes Island, and after transfer to quarantine
at Flock House they became 43 live lambs.
 |
Awassi sheep at Flock House secondary quarantine unit.
Photo: Dr Deric Charlton |
·
About this time, the principal of the
main Australian investor wanted to take over much of the management of the
programme, and in my view he was making a considerable hash of things, so I
decided to sell my 20% share of the company Awassi New Zealand.
·
After spending considerable amounts of
time over 5 years, I was disappointed to leave the project when the hardest
part was completed. However, pragmatically it was clear that I was never going
to get on with the Australian principal so quitting was the best strategy.
·
The payment received gave me the capital
to embark upon the East Friesian importation which has been much more important
for New Zealand.
·
It is notable however that the Awassi
sheep (3/4 Awassi and better) are now being exported in significant numbers from
Perth to the Middle East, as a result of the multiplication of an Australian
import from Cyprus, plus some of our animals. The sheep milking operations
envisaged by the initial Australian partners have not been commercially
successful.
 |
| Flock of Awassi sheep taken By Dr Jock Allison on a trip to Turkey |
Memories from Dr Robin Tervit: Awassi in Israel
 |
| Dr Robin Tervit - safely in retirement |
I phoned Jock
Alison a couple of times before I went to Israel, as the news reported fighting
between Israel and Jordan. Jock said that all was OK
and so off I went after promising my wife Helen that I would not go to Jerusalem as
there were foot/tank patrols and people arrests.
Jock met me, and we hopped into
his rental Subaru (Israel was full of Subaru’s as Subaru had decided to sell
cars to Israel which meant that they could not sell to the rest of the middle
east) and headed off to the embryo facilities.
I kept seeing signs to Jerusalem
and yes, Jock had missed the turn-off and we drove through the city at night
seeing signs to the famous sights and a number of foot patrols.
Eventually we
got out of the city and drove down the shore of the Dead Sea, through a road
block and eventually to our destination. The surgery was conducted in a converted
container. Unfortunately the Awassi sheep didn't like our superovulation protocols
and hence we got disappointing results.
There was not much
evidence of the war though a few jets flew over very close to the ground.
We only saw a bit
if Israel as we drove to the airport and I actually spent no money in Israel.
This caused me a bit of grief at the airport as no-one could understand how I
could spend a week or so and not spend any money. I was interrogated for over
an hour by two different officials and eventually let go – although they
followed me until I got on to the plane.
