The tale of Azawakh in Australia is one of two pioneering breeders, expanding simultaneously but indepedently into an exciting new breed after having had Salukis for some time.
Worgeordie Endid Na’ema was the first Azawakh to reach Australia, imported in February 2010 by Debra Huon and her daughter Tahlee Cox to their Jumadabey kennel in Victoria. Bred in France, but whelped in Britain, two thirds of this bitch’s pedigree goes right back to the original French and Yugoslavian lines, whilst her maternal grandsire is Tigidit, imported from Mali by Alberto Rossi in 1997.
Australia’s second Azawakh landed in June 2012. Tahount Idiiyat-es-Sahel was imported by Chantal Parratt to her Grantulla kennel, then in Western Australia (now in Victoria), from David Moore in the USA. Tahount possessed a large percentage of new African blood: his paternal granddam was Tiraout, imported from Niger during the 2006 ABIS expedition; whilst his paternal great-grandsire was Agarouf, imported from Mali during the 1997 expedition. His maternal great-granddam, Hatshepsut, came from Burkina Faso at the same time. The remaining portion of his pedigree goes back to the original French and Yugoslavian lines.
The Jumadabey kennel imported their second and Australia’s third Azawakh in November 2012. Bred in Spain by Michael Rackl, Wakili Ak Ilaman brought an equally large percentage of fresh genetics, as both his paternal and maternal granddams were imported to Germany from Africa in 2001: Kela from Burkina Faso and Sikara from Mali. Whilst most of the remainder of his pedigree traces back to the original French and Yugoslavian lines, it also contains Amanar, imported from Mali in 1996; and 1980s imports Yaris; Dazol in Chenan; C’Babasch; Ejeker and B’Tekewelt.
In June 2013, the Grantulla kennel imported their second and Australia’s fourth Azawakh, Xanadu Ghazalah, bred by Alison Tyler in the USA. Primarily from the original French and Yugoslavian lines, her pedigree also contains Atri ak Mansoufouga, born in Burkina Faso in 1993; as well as Agarouf; Hatshepsut; C’Babasch; Ejeker and B’Tekewelt.
In July 2013, the first Australian Azawakh litter was whelped at Jumadabey kennel when Wakili Ak Ilaman x Worgeordie Endid Na’ema produced 6 pups, known as their “O” litter.
In June 2014, the Grantulla kennel welcomed Australia’s second Azawakh litter: Tahount Idiiyat-es-Sahel x Xanadu Ghazalah produced 7 pups.
At the same time, Grantulla was very fortunate to be able to import Asahagh wa n’Tafouk from David Moore in the USA, during a period when the Australian National Kennel Council was allowing registration of Azawakh with one African-born parent. Asahagh’s sire, Ishagahan, was imported to the USA from Niger in 2012. Azawakh born in Africa do not come with pedigree papers, thus there are inevitable ‘blank spaces’ in the pedigrees of their offspring. These days, the ANKC has limited the number of ‘blanks’ allowable in a pedigree, sadly preventing any more Azawakh like Asahagh from being registered in Australia.
Being able to bring such fresh African genetics directly to Australia was a great step forward. We feel priveleged to have one of Asahagh’s magnificent sons, Grantulla Inerane (aka Calabash), who exhibits his maternal grandfather’s proud Sahelian attitude on a daily basis.
Asahagh’s dam traces back to Agarouf and the original French and Yugoslavian lines.
In April 2015, Tahount Idiiyat-es-Sahel x Xanadu Ghazalah produced a second litter at Grantulla: 5 pups, including Grantulla Amzhad, the indomitable mother of our own Grantulla Ijouniane (aka Kora).
A year later, Jumadabey kennel welcomed their second litter of 6 pups from Wakili Ak Ilaman x Worgeordie Endid Na’ema (“P” litter).
In September 2016, Grantulla imported their second male, Eidi N’Amanar Fawaz, bred by Maria Szynaka-Tomaszewska in Poland. His sire is almost exclusively of original French and Yugoslavian lines; whilst his dam line adds C’Babasch, Ejeker, and B’Tekewelt.
Eidi N’Amanar Fawaz has sired three litters: 9 pups from Asahagh wa N’Tafouk in May 2017; 6 pups from Grantulla Amzhad in December 2019 (including Kora); and 7 more pups from Asahagh in March 2021 (including Calabash).
In October 2016, Jumadabey also imported a male from Maria Szynaka-Tomaszewska: Eidi n’Amanar Ijatan. Whilst his pedigree contains a large portion of original French and Yugoslavian lines, he also offers Salome, born in Mali in 1986; Tainoss and Abarut Ag Tin Akouf, born in Burkina Faso in 1992; Ajor Ag Tinakouf, born in Burkina Faso in 1994; and Sikara, born in Mali in 2001; as well as Atri ak Mansoufouga and Hatshepsut. He sired Jumadabey’s third litter (“Q” litter”), 7 pups out of Jumadabey Ovezzane, in April 2019.
Meanwhile, in December 2017, Jumadabey imported their most prized bitch, Imidiwan Amali from Kris Nabialczyk in Poland. She is by the same sire as Grantulla’s imported male, Eidi N’Amanar Fawaz, whilst her dam line also brings in Agarouf, Taytok, Azabor and Tigidit.
In July 2020, Grantulla Safintara (Eidi N’Amanar Fawaz x Grantulla Amzhad) became the first Azawakh to set foot in New Zealand, imported from Australia by Tracy Locke of Farrah Afghan Hounds. The following year, Safintara’s half sister, Grantulla Illighadad (Fawaz x Asahagh wa N’Tafouk), joined her in the Farrah household.