zebu

Zebu
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Bovidae
Subfamily:	Bovinae
Genus:	Bos
Species:	Bos primigenius
Subspecies:	B. p. indicus
Binomial name
Bos primigenius indicus Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
Bos indicus and Bos taurus indicus

Zebu, Bos primigenius indicus or Bos indicus, sometimes known as humped cattle or indicus cattle, are a type of domestic cattle originating in South Asia. They are characterised by a fatty hump on their shoulders, drooping ears and a large dewlap. They are highly adapted to high temperatures, and are farmed throughout the tropical countries, both as pure zebu and as hybrids with taurine cattle, the other main type of domestic cattle. Zebu are used as draught oxen, as dairy cattle and as beef cattle, as well as for byproducts such as hides and dung for fuel and manure.

Taxonomy

The scientific name of zebu cattle was originally Bos indicus, but they are now more commonly classified within the species Bos primigenius, together with taurine cattle (Bos primigenius taurus) and the ancestor of both of them, the extinct aurochs (Bos primigenius primigenius).

Origin

Zebu cattle are thought to be derived from Asian aurochs, sometimes regarded as a subspecies, Bos primigenius namadicus.^[1] Another wild cattle species, the gaur (Bos gaurus) may also have contributed to their development.^{[citation needed]} Wild Asian aurochs disappeared during the time of the Indus Valley Civilization from its range in the Indus basin and other spots of Pakistan, possibly due to inter-breeding with domestic zebu and resultant fragmentation of wild populations due to loss of habitat.^[2]

Breeds

There are some 75 known breeds of zebu, split about evenly between African breeds and South Asian ones. The major Zebu cattle breeds of the world include Gir, Guzerat, Kankrej, Indo-Brazilian, Brahman, Nelore, Ongole, Sahiwal, Red Sindhi, Butana, Kenana, Boran, Baggara, Tharparker, Kangayam, Chinese Southern Yellow and Philippine Native. The Sanga cattle breeds originated from hybridization of Zebu with indigenous humpless cattle in Africa; they include the Afrikaner, Red Fulani, Ankole-Watusi, and many other breeds of central and southern Africa. Sanga cattle can be distinguished from pure Zebu by having smaller humps located farther forward on the animals.

Characteristics

Zebu have humps on the shoulders, large dewlaps and droopy ears.^[3] They have more sweat glands than taurine cattle.^{[citation needed]}

Draft zebu in Mumbai, India

Spread and hybridisation

Because they were better adapted to hot environments,^{[citation needed]} zebu were imported to Africa for hundreds of years and interbred with taurine cattle there. Genetic analysis of African cattle has found higher concentrations of zebu genes all along the east coast of Africa, and especially pure cattle on the island of Madagascar, implying that the method of dispersal was cattle transported by ship. Partial resistance to rinderpest led to another increase in the frequency of zebu in Africa.

Zebu were imported into Brazil in the early twentieth century and crossbred to Charolais cattle, a European taurine breed. The resulting breed, which consists of 5/8 Charolais and 3/8 Zebu, is called the Chanchim. It has a better meat quality than the zebu as well as better heat resistance than European cattle. The zebu breeds used were primarily Indo-Brazilian with some Nelore and Guzerat.

Zebu market in Madagascar

Many breeds are complex mixtures of the zebu and various taurine types, and some also have yak, gaur or banteng genetics.^{[citation needed]} While zebu are the common cattle in much of Asia, the cattle of Japan, Korea and Mongolia are taurine (although possibly domesticated separately from the other taurine cattle originating from Europe and Africa). Other species of cattle domesticated in parts of Asia include yak, gaur, banteng and Water Buffalo.

Bulls from the Brahman breed of zebu are often used for bullriding in rodeos.

In 1999, researchers at Texas A&M University successfully cloned a zebu.^[4]

Popular culture

Zebu were mentioned in the Silly Songs with Larry tune "The Song of the Cebú". Larry the Cucumber defines a cebú as "kinda like a cow." At one point in the song, Larry says "...I think that's the bull's cousin. He's a cebú!" This is fairly accurate, as European cattle and zebu are members of the same species.

ZEBU! is a band formed in 2003, and based out Western Massachusetts.[^[5][6]

The Zebu is mentioned in a 1991 episode of The Simpsons, "Blood Feud," when Lisa teaches Maggie about more obscure animals, wanting to give Maggie "all the advantages that [she] didn't have." Lisa describes it as "an ox, only it has a hump and a dewlap."

In August 2007, a study by ITV television show Undercover Mothers found that a third of steaks served in Hungry Horse and two thirds served in Wetherspoon public houses in the United Kingdom were from Zebu or Zebu cross-breeds, as indicated by the presence of Zebu DNA markers in the meat (and not that the steaks were 67% zebu as reported in papers such as the Daily Mail). Welsh farm leaders claim Zebu meat is "notorious for its tough and poor eating quality."^[7][8][9]

The book Complete and Utter Zebu, published in 2009, is an examination of the way the public is consistently lied to by advertisers, retailers and politicians. It uses the term "zebu" as a noun with the meaning "lies, deception, bullshit"^[10].

See also

• Cattle
• Water Buffalo

References

External links

• Senaapathy Kangayam Cattle Research Foundation