Azawak
(most common name in Benin, Niger, Nigeria)

NOTE: In the following list, country names indicate information obtained from DAD-IS as of 2023. The list is complicated because different sources give different additional names.

also (most common name):
• Zébu Azawak (Mali)
• Zébu Azawack (Burkina Faso)

(most common name in English):
(transboundary/brand name):
• Azaouak (Niger, Nigeria)

(local/other name):
• Arab (Niger, FELIUS 1995, MASON DICTIONARY 2020)
• Azaouak (Mali, Niger, Nigeria)
• AzaouakDamerghou (Niger)
• Azawa (Niger, Nigeria)
• Damerghou (Niger, FELIUS 1995, MASON DICTIONARY 2020)
• Tagama (Niger, Nigeria, FELIUS 1995, MASON DICTIONARY 2020)
• Tuareg (Niger, Nigeria) (FELIUS 1995, pl. MASON DICTIONARY 2020)
• • Targi (sing. MASON DICTIONARY 2020)
• • Targhi (sing. MASON DICTIONARY 2020)
• • Targui (sing. MASON DICTIONARY 2020)

local/other name (Arabic):
• Azawal (Niger, Nigeria)

local/other name (French):
• Touareg (MASON DICTIONARY 2020)

local/other name (Fulani):
• Azawa (FELIUS 1995, MASON DICTIONARY 2020)
• Azawal (FELIUS 1995)
• Azawal, pl. Azawaje (MASON DICTIONARY 2020)

local/other name (Hausa):
• Shanun Adar (Niger, Nigeria, FELIUS 1995, MASON DICTIONARY 2020)

The Azawak is a West African Shorthorned Zebu, similar to the Shuwa. They are docile and easily managed.

In Niger, as of 2023, the Azawak population was 7,109,533 and listed uses were pack/baggage, carting, milk, riding (work), and meat.

The Azawak is native to the Azawak Valley (also named Azawagh, Azaouagh) — a dry basin, mainly made up of Sahelian and Saharan flatlands, covering northwestern Niger and parts of northeastern Mali and southern Algeria. The human population of the Azawak Valley is predominantly Tuareg and Arab, with Bouzou, Wodaabe, Hausa and Zarma minorities.

The Azawak is reported as being located within:
Burkina Faso - throughout the country
Niger - west coast
Nigeria - in the west and northwest (Kwara State, Sokoto State, Kano)
Mali - eastern border, Ménaka Cercle (cercle = literally ‘circle’; a subdivision of a region)

• The breed name ‘Azawak’ is from the Tuareg (Tamajak) language.
• (Bambara) Tagama = marcher
• Damergou is a region within Niger.

This page was last updated on: 2023-06-13

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