ABSTRACT
Human development in arid zones has always been intimately tied up with the development of animal production. This has frequently involved a long-range process of selection of the most promising species and traits for the propagation and survival of domesticated animals in the desert ecosystem. The delicate and often precarious life balance between man and animals in the demanding ecology has frequently led to drought or stimulated expansion and over-grazing and the subsequent starvation of livestock. Animal studies or enterprises can make a positive contribution to development within arid zones without entailing permanent destructive alteration of the ecosystem. The desert offers an excellent area for maintaining any animal raising facility which must be kept relatively remote and off the beaten track of human travel. The search for animal models of human disease should similarly be organized along more deliberate lines.
