Domestic Animals of Mexico

Poultry and Livestock of Mexico

Before the arrival of the Spanish, the indigenous people of Mexico were limited in their choices for livestock. Aztec and Mayan people kept turkeys, ducks, and dogs as food animals, along with bees. Native ocellated turkeys were not fully domesticated but kept tame through regular feedings. Muscovy ducks remain the only domestic duck not descended from Mallards. Native peoples also raised parrots, doves, monkeys, deer, squirrels, and coatis as pets.[1][2]

The Spanish brought with them the livestock of the Old World, including chickens, pigs, and cattle. These animals initially disrupted indigenous lifestyles. Spanish cattle, horses, sheep, and goats grazed over farmlands uncontrolled. Combined with active logging, the new creatures destroyed much of the region's fertile topsoils. Short-sighted labor practices similarly devastated local populations, and the infrastructure of the region collapsed by the 16th century. While all this occurred, chicken and pork became a household staple. They are now, along with seafood, the most common meats found in Mexican cuisine.[3]

Horses, Donkeys, and Mules in Mexican Culture

The original horses of the Americas died out around 12,000 years ago. In 1519, 16 horses returned to the American mainland through what is now Veracruz in Mexico. They came ashore under the saddles of Hernan Cortes and his men, brought to help them conquer the New World. Native people had never seen a horse and rider. To their eyes, the Spanish horses were fierce and angry warriors, but animals nonetheless. They quickly learned to target horses in battle, robbing the Spanish forces of their advantage. Indigenous workers likely learned to ride from Spanish overseers; many are reported escaping captivity by horseback.

Over the next few centuries, horses, donkeys, and mules were imported in greater numbers. For the first time, the people of North and South America had access to beasts of burden. Donkeys, mules, and oxen found favor with the working classes. The Spanish imported them early on to work in silver mines. Horses, hungrier and less hardy than donkeys, were reserved for the upper classes and military. Mules, a stocky hybrid of the two, proved most efficient of all. Today, horses in Mexico are still kept for ranch work or sport, particularly at rodeos.[4][5]

Traditional Mexican Dog Breeds

The original dogs of Mexico traveled with humans across the land bridge from Europe to the Americas. From there, they specialized into many indigenous breeds. In Mesoamerica, hairless, silent dogs served as guardians, hunters, pets, and livestock. Their modern descendants are known as Xoloitzcuintli, or Xolos. The distinctive traits of the breed are thousands of years old. Terracotta sculptures showing plump, hairless dogs have been found in ruins of the Colima, Maya, Toltec, Zapotec, and Aztec civilizations.

Xolos played an important role in both the material and spiritual life of their masters. Besides being a vital source of food, they were viewed as healing creatures tied to the Aztec god of death, Xolotl. When an Aztec person died, dogs were often sacrificed to guide him or her to the afterlife. They were also valued as bed warmers. Sleeping next to Xolos was thought to help with illnesses ranging from arthritis to asthma to colic.

When Europeans brought toy dogs with them to Mexico, they interbred with Xolos and smaller Techichi dogs to produce Chihuahuas.[6] Today, the two breeds are popular around the globe. In Mexico, they have been joined by many other dogs of foreign origin. While many are kept as pets, others gather in feral packs in urban areas. Recent spay and neuter programs in the nation attempt to curb the number of feral dogs in Mexico without cruelty.[7]

Bibliography

1. Heather Irene McKillop, The Ancient Maya: New Perspectives (New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 2006), 36-37.

2. E. N. Anderson and Felix Medina Tzuc, Animals and the Maya in Southeast Mexico (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 2005), 28-32.

3. Ross Hassig, Mexico and the Spanish Conquest (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2006), 190-193.

4. Gordon Morris Bakken, The World of the American West (New York, NY: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2011), 68-69.

5. Christopher Cumo, The Ongoing Columbian Exchange: Stories of Biological and Economic Transfer in World History (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2015), 103-106.

6. Amy Fernandez, Xoloitzcuintli (Freehold, NJ: Kennel Club Books, 2009).

7. Michelle García, "Mexico's City of Dogs," Al Jazeera America, September 04, 2013, Al Jazeera America, accessed June 22, 2017.

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