Proceedings of the 43rd Congress of the South African Society for Animal Science

The KwaZulu-Natal Branch of SASAS hosted the Society's 43^rd congress from 28 to 30 July 2009. The venue was The Alpine Heath Resort and Conference Village in the Drakensberg,

The theme for the congress was "Animal Science in a Changing World", where factors such as climate change, with its potential to modify the nutritive value of the feeds our animals consume and also to impact on the adaptability of livestock and disease challenges to livestock as production areas warm up due to global warming, were discussed. In line with the changing face of Animal Science non-traditional animal species, the sessions included ostriches and sport/leisure animals (horses). The Congress also included a session on research techniques and analytical procedures in an attempt to address the common mistakes when publishing research data.

The congress organizing committee comprised: Trevor Dugmore (Chairman), Sibongiseni Gcumisa (Secretary), Hannes de Villiers, Marion Young, Tarryn Simpkin, Erika van Zyl, Rauri Alcock and Joanne Mann.

The editorial/review panel comprised:

The organising committe acknowledge the assistance of Kotie du Toit, for secretarial and general assistance at the congress. Francois du Toit, Michelle Keith, Peter Oosthuizen and Sibusiso Gumede are thanked for their assistance at the congress. Michelle Larsen and Zandile Gwala are thanked for binding the Congress Programme and Summaries document.

The support of the Council of the South African Society for Animal Science, the speakers and all the members who attended and made it a memorable occasion is gratefully acknowledged. Hansie Bekker is thanked for his efforts in obtaining sposorship, which contributed to a successful congress.

Finally, thank you for the generous support of our sponsors; ABSA, ADVIT, Afgri Animal Feeds, Animate Animal Health, BKB, Chemunique International, de heus, Intervet Shearing-Plough Animal Health, intofeed, Kemin, KK Animal Nutrition, Meadow Feeds, Merino SA, MS Biotech, Nestle, NuTec, Sanlam, SA Studbook, SafeTag, Virbac and Voermol.

Guess Editor: Trevor Dugmore