Vechur Cattle

The Vechur cattle are a smaller sized and native Indian breed of Bos indicus cattle. The breed was named after the village Vechoor in Kottayam district of the Kerala state in India. According to the Guinness Book of Records, the Vechur cattle breed is the smallest cattle breed in the world. The breed is noted and valued for the larger amount of milk production compared to the amount of food it requires. Sosamma Iype, a Professor of Animal breeding and Genetics along with a team of her student saved the breed from extinction due to conservation efforts. A conservation unit was started in the year of 1989. And in 1998, a conservation trust was formed to continue the work with farmer participation. The Vechur cattle became rare when the native animals were crossbred with exotic animals. And the breed was popular in Kerala until the 1960s. It was listed on the FAO’s World Watch List of Domestic Animal Diversity in 2000, in it’s ‘Critical-Maintained Breeds List’. The breed was listed pointing to imminent extinction, as breeds are included in the list when the number of breeding cows and bulls fall to very low levels. There are about 200 cows are supposed to exist today. And most of them (nearly 100) are in the Veterinary College. Read more info about this cattle breed below.

Punganur Cattle

The Punganur cattle which is also known as Punganur dwarf cattle originated from the Chitoor district of Andhra Pradesh in southern India. The breed is among the world’s smallest humped cattle breeds. It is named after the town of it’s origin, Punganur, in Chittor district situated in the south-eastern tip of the Deccan Plateau. The Punganur cattle breed is on the verge of extinction, with a few animals remaining. And these remaining animals are being reared mainly on the Livestock Research Station, Palamaner, Chittoor district, attached to SV Veterinary University. The breed is not officially recognized as a breed since there are only a few animals remaining. Punganur cattle are mainly noted for their very high quality milk which is rich in medicinal properties. Today the breed is pretty rare. Read more information about this breed below.

Characteristics
Punganur cattle are smaller sized animals and are white and light grey in color. Sometimes they can also be light brown to dark brown or red in color. They have a broad forehead and short horns. Their horns are crescent shaped and often loose curving backward and forward in bulls and lateral and forward in cows. Average height of the Punganur cattle is about 70-90 cm. The bulls on average weight around 225 kg. And average body weight of the cows is around 115 kg. Photo from Dairy Knowledge Portal and info from Wikipedia.

Kankrej Cattle

Kankrej cattle are a breed of Zebu cattle. They originated from the Kankrej Taluka of Banaskantha district in the state of Gujarat in India. And the breed gets it name from it’s home tract ‘Kankrej‘. They are also known by some other names such as Wagad, Waged, Wadhir, Wadial, Wadhiar, Bannai, Vaghiyar, Vadhiyar, Nagar and Talabda. Kankrej cattle breed comes from southeast of the Desert of Cutch in western India, particularly along the banks of the rivers Banas and Saraswati which flow from east to west and drain into the desert of Cutch. Review characteristics, use and full breed profile of Kankrej cattle below.

Kankrej Cattle

Characteristics
Kankrej cattle are large in size. And it is one of the heaviest Indian cattle breeds. Their color varies form silver to gray to iron gray or steel black. Newly born Kankrej calves have rust red-colored polls, and this color disappear within 6 to 9 months. Kankrej cattle have short face, their forehead is broad and slightly dished in the center. Their nose looks slightly upturned. Their hump, forequarters and hindquarters are darker than the barrel, especially in the bulls. They have lyre-shaped strong horns. And their horns are covered with skin to a higher point than in other breeds. The ears of Kankrej cattle are large, pendulous and open. The hump in the bulls is well developed. The dewlap is thin but pendulous and bulls have pendulous sheaths. Their skin is slightly loose and of medium thickness. Pigmentation of the skin is dark. Their legs are particularly shapely and well balanced. And have small feet which are round and durable. On average Kankrej bulls weight about 550-570 kg, and cows about 330-370 kg. Photo form Wikipedia.

Gir Cattle

The Gir cattle is a famous dairy cattle breed originating in India. It is one of the principal Zebu or Bos indicus breeds in India, and has been used locally in the improvement of other breeds. The native tract of Gir cattle is Gir hills and forests of Kathiawar. Which includes Amreli, Bhavnagar, Junagadh and Rajkot districts of Gujarat. The breed derives its name from the Gir forest, which is the natural habitat of the breed. The breed is also known as some other names in different parts of their breeding tract. Such as Bhodali, Gujarati, Sorthi, Surti, Kathiawari and Desan. Gir cattle is also very popular outside India. United States, Mexico, Venezuela and Brazil have imported this breed. And they are being bred successfully there. The breed was also one of the cattle breeds used in the development of the Brahman cattle in North America.

Characteristics
Gir cattle is distinctive in appearance and a heavy breed. Their body is well proportioned and the udder in cows is well developed and round. Their body color is shining red to spotted white. Although, their body color can vary from pure red to speckles, yellowish red to white with large red spots. Their skin is soft, thin and glossy. They have a big head with prominent bulging sheild and a long face. The convex forehead of Gir cattle is the most unusual feature of this breed. Their convex forehead acts as a cooling radiator to the brain and pituitary gland. Their ears are very long and are an excellent fly and insect swatter. Their eyes are hooded and black pigmented and there are lot of loose skin around their eye area. They have very hard feet which is black in color. The horns of Gir cattle are set well back on their heads and thick at the base. Their horns grow downwards and backwards with an upward curve. They have large hump. The average body weight of Gir bull is about 545 kg and 385 kg for cows. Photo from Wikipedia.

Gangatiri Cattle

The Gangatiri cattle breed is an important dual-purpose cattle breed. It is an indigenous breed of cattle from India which is raised for milk production and also for draught purposes. The breed is known to be originated in the region along the banks of Ganga river in the eastern Uttar Pradesh and western parts of Bihar state. It is a very important dual-purpose breed of cattle of North India. Total population of the Gangatiri cattle has been reduced recently. It is also known as Eastern Hariana or Shahabadi. Currently main breeding tract of the breed includes Varanasi, Ghazipur, Mirzapur and Ballia districts of Uttar Pradesh and Bhojpur district of Bihar state. Read some more information about the breed below.

Characteristics
Gangatiri cattle are very beautiful animals with complete white or grey color. Both cows and bulls have horns. And their horns are medium in size and emerge from side of the poll behind and above eyes in outward and curving upwards and inwards ending with pointed tips. They have prominent forehead which is straight and broad with shallow groove in the middle. The color of the hooves, muzzle and eyelids are generally black. Average body height of the mature bulls is about 142 cm at the withers, and about 124 cm for the cows. Photo and info from Dairy Knowledge Portal and Wikipedia.

Bargur Cattle

The Bargur cattle are a breed of dairy cattle native to the Bargur region of Krishnagiri district and Bargur forest hills in Anthiyur Taluk of Erode District in Western Tamil Nadu in India. They are also often used for draught purposes in their native areas. They have been generally raised in herds exclusively by the Kannada speaking Lingayats of the Bargur region. They are primarily raised to carry out agricultural operations in the hilly terrain. They are also well known for their trotting ability. The Bargur cattle are most often maintained in extensive management system and they are raised in forest area in semi-wild conditions and usually housed in enclosures called ‘Pattys’ in groups of 50 to 200 animals. Currently the breed is raised as a draught animal in it’s native area, and also good for milk production. Read some more information about the breed below.

Characteristics
Bargur cattle are of medium sized animals with compact build body. They are usually of brown color with white patches. Although full white and brown complexions are also rarely found. Both bulls and cows usually have horns. And their horns are light brown in color and emerge closer at the root and are inclined backward, outward and upward with a forward curve. The forward curve is sharp at the tip. Photo and info from Wikipedia.

Brahman Cow

Brahman cow breed originated from India. But modern brahman cow is made from artificial insemination of Indian, European and American high productive cow breed. The main characteristics of brahman cow are here.

Brahman Cow

Tharparkar Cow

Tharparkar cow breed originated from Pakistan. This cow is available in all places of Pakistan and also available in some other countries of Asia. They are highly milk productive cow breed. The main characteristics of tharparkar cow are listed below.

Red Sindhi Cow

Red sindhi cow breed originated from Pakistan. Karachi, Lasbela and Hyderabad are the ancient living place of this cow. The color of this breed is red and so that they are known as Red Sindhi. This cow breed can be found in Pakistan, India, UK, Canada, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Africa and some other country. The characteristics of this breed are described below.

Sahiwal Cow

The sahiwal cow breed originated form Montgomery zila of Panjab province of Pakistan. This cow breed can be found in many countries of Asia. The main characteristics of sahiwal cow are described below.

Umblachery Cattle

The Umblachery cattle is a draft breed of the zebu type, used mainly for agricultural work. It is an indigenous breed of domestic cattle in India. And the breed is native to the coastal plains of Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur districts in the state of Tamil Nadu in South India. Actually the male Umblachery cattle are used for agricultural purposes such as carting and ploughing. They are very suitable for working in marshy rice fields of eastern districts of Tamilnadu. And milk from the cows is utilized for home consumption. The breed is also known by some other names such as Jathi madu, Mottai madu, Southern Tanjore and Therkuthi madu. Read some more information about this cattle breed below.

Kangayam Cattle

The Kangayam cattle are an indigenous breed of India. The breed derives it’s name from the Kangeyam town located in the Tiruppur district of Tamil Nadu state. It is mainly raised as a draught animal but also pretty good for milk production. The breed conform largely to the Southern Indian Mysore type. And it is thought that there is evidence of the blood of the grey-white Ongole cattle in their composition. Possibly this mixture has given the Kangayam cattle their larger size in comparison with other cattle of the Mysore type. They are also known by some other names in their native area such as Kanganad, Kangeyam and Kongu. Currently they are available and bred in the southern and southeastern area of the Coimbatore district of Madras state in India. In case of size, the Kangayam cattle are of two type, one is small and another is large. The larger variety is found in the areas of Aravakurchi, Karur and Dindigul subdivisions. While the smaller variety is found mostly in the Kangayam, Erode, Dharampuram, Pollachi, Paddadam and Udmalpet subdivisions. Read more information about the breed below.