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From time immemorial, bulls and cows were considered the most profitable animals to keep at home. They were among the first tamed by man, and at the moment they are the main suppliers of meat, milk and a variety of auxiliary products. Bulls can be found in almost all climatic regions of the planet: from the highlands of Tibet to the hot African savannas. Types of bulls are quite diverse. Fortunately, on earth you can still find various types of bulls in the wild, which are also used for breeding work with cattle.
Types of wild bulls
The bull is a powerful animal, personifying the strength and power of wild nature with all its appearance. Unfortunately, the wild forest bull, or tour, the main progenitor of most European domestic cows, did not survive in its original state to the present day. It was finally destroyed, not without the help of man, back in the XNUMXth century. But, fortunately, many other species of wild bulls, which were also on the verge of destruction, were saved and are now protected by conservationists. With their help, domestic breeds of gobies were once bred, which are now used by man in many ways.
Banteng
This is a very rare species of wild bull that lives in the countries of Southeast Asia. Biologically, he is closest to the gaur. The species was domesticated several centuries ago, after which it came to Australia, where it became a little wild and made up another population there.
Bulls have a very neat appearance, due to the short and smooth coat. Males are very easily distinguished from females, not only in size, but also in color. In males it is very dark, almost black, in females it is light brown or reddish.
These bulls live for about 25 years, willingly breed in captivity.
bison
This type of wild bull lives on the North American continent. It is considered one of the largest beasts in America. Indeed, the bison reaches a height of 2 m, and even 2,5-3 m in length. The weight of an American bull can be 1,5 tons, females usually weigh much less – 700-800 kg.
But with the advent of the European colonizers, animals began to be exterminated both just for fun and in order to deprive the indigenous inhabitants of the Indians of food.
Bison are distinguished by a particularly massive front part of the body, with thick and long hair (up to 50 cm long), often knocked to shreds. The back of the body is much weaker and smaller. They have a low-set head with a wide forehead and short horns, the ends of which are bent inward.
The tail is short with a brush at the very end.
The coat color of American bulls can be brown, gray or black. While young calves are distinguished by a light straw color.
Bison live in different natural areas, mainly in nature reserves. Hence, there are two main subspecies:
- Steppe – preferring spacious pastures and plains, well lit by the sun.
- Forest – settle in forests in the north of the continent, mainly in Canada.
They can roam in herds in search of denser vegetation. In winter, they dig out their food under the snow. The herd is divided into bulls and cows with calves. The bull of the oldest age dominates in it.
Bison are not particularly aggressive. And in case of danger, they prefer to flee when they are able to reach speeds of up to 50 km / h. Animals swim well, they have an excellent sense of smell and hearing, but they see very poorly.
buffaloes
These wild bulls, living mainly in southern latitudes, can still be found in nature, although their numbers also continue to decline.
There are two main species: Asian and African buffaloes.
African are larger in size, with black or dark brown hard sparse hair. They reach a height of 1,5-1,6 m, weigh about a ton. They live, as a rule, in savannahs near water sources. They have a strong herd instinct, because they have to defend themselves from natural enemies: lions and crocodiles.
Indian buffaloes also have many subspecies: from giants, under 2 m high, to the smallest wild bulls – anoa. The latter have a height of only 80 cm, and weigh about 300 kg. Despite the fact that they are listed in the Red Book and protected by law, poachers continue to shoot them, since the anoa skin is very popular among tourists in Asian countries.
The number of Asian giant bulls in the wild is also declining due to human destruction of their habitat.
Many of them have been successfully domesticated and even used for crossing with domestic bulls, due to their calm disposition, unpretentiousness and good performance.
Gaur
This type of bull is considered the largest that still exists in the wild. Indeed, the scale of his body is amazing: bulls grow up to 3 m in height, and reach 1600 kg or more in weight. Sometimes they are even called Indian bison.
Despite such an impressive size, the animals are distinguished by a calm and peaceful disposition. They are characterized by fearlessness, since even tigers are afraid to attack their herds.
Bulls have a dark brown color with short and shiny hair. Large up to 90 cm in length, but neat horns are located almost strictly vertically and have the shape of a crescent.
Their largest number remains in India (up to 30 thousand). In this country, even a domesticated species of gaur, gayal, was bred. They are smaller and are actively used in the economy.
Zebu
If all the previous described species were related to the wild tour, then the zebu is completely unrelated to it. This is an independent type of wild bull, also distributed mainly in India.
Animals are distinguished by the presence of a muscular-fat hump and skin secretions with a special aroma, due to which it is relatively safe from blood-sucking insects. They tolerate the highest temperatures very well.
In India, these bulls are often tamed and even crossbred with domestic animals, resulting in greater milk production, strength and endurance.
At the withers, zebu grow up to 1,5 m, the weight of adult bulls is 800 kg.
Bison
Bison are a species of American bison, their closest relatives in Europe.
They differ in smaller sizes and a more clearly separated head from the body. In Europe at the moment they are the largest mammals. Bison also faced a difficult fate, they were almost completely exterminated, and the Caucasian subspecies managed to disappear from the face of the earth until people realized it. At the moment, these European bulls are listed in the Red Book and are carefully guarded.
Bison have a dark brown coat color with a small hump. In length, the body can reach almost 3 m, in height – 1,7-2 m. There is a pronounced mane. Life expectancy is 30-40 years. Bison swim well and overcome obstacles.
According to
There are bulls that feel very comfortable in the most severe conditions of mountainous Tibet. This type of bulls is distinguished by the huge size of the body (height up to 2 m, length – up to 4 m) and horns. The wool of yaks is also very long and tangled, reliably protecting them from frost and winds. Its color can be very different.
The yak was domesticated by the inhabitants of Tibet over a thousand years ago. Domestic animals have a much calmer character. But it is better not to meet with a wild yak. They are distinguished by great strength and ferocity. But they themselves avoid human society and live only in deserted regions. Therefore, the temper and habits of wild yaks have been little studied.
Breeds of domestic bulls
It is interesting that if wild types of bulls, on average, are quite easily tamed, then domestic animals without a person also run wild relatively quickly. To date, about 1000 breeds of cattle are known, among which 300 breeds are popular all over the world. Most often they are classified according to the method of economic use and are divided into: dairy, meat and breeds of the universal meat and dairy direction. Below are some of the most popular bull breeds with photos.
Ayrshire breed
This breed belongs to the purely dairy. It was bred in Scotland in the 17-18 century. The color is most often red-white, sometimes brown-white, but with a predominance of light shades. The coat is smooth, the horns are twisted.
Cows weigh an average of 450-550 kg (up to 700), and reach 130 cm at the withers. The average weight of bulls is 600-800 (up to 1000), height – up to 140-150 cm. They mature quite early and are able to inseminate early. They give about 5500-6000 kg of milk, with a fat content of up to 3,9%. The advantage of the Ayrshires is the economical use of feed. They adapt well to keeping in a cold climate, worse – to an arid climate.
Hereford breed
This breed of purely meat direction was bred in England in the 65th century. It is one of the most widespread in the world and is used to improve the meat characteristics of other breeds. Animals are very hardy, easily adapt to any climate conditions. It has a very high productivity – up to XNUMX% of quality meat.
The color is reddish, with white spots on the head. Cows easily gain up to 600 kg in weight or more, bulls – sometimes more than 1 ton.
Also in high esteem the skin of these animals. It is used to make luxurious leather products.
But their milk production is very low. Often calves have to be fed literally from the first month of life.
Kostroma breed
This dairy breed is bred only in Our Country, it has been known only since the beginning of the 5th century. Despite the fact that initially the breed was bred rather as a universal one, it shows very good results in terms of milk productivity – 6-3,7 thousand kg of 3,9-XNUMX% of milk per year.
The color can be varied, but fawn and gray shades predominate. The weight of cows is 550-700 kg, bulls – 800-1000 kg.
The breed quickly gained popularity due to its amazing endurance, unpretentiousness in feeding and a long period of productivity. They also note their precocity and a high percentage of survival of newborns at calving. Cows are able to easily tolerate a change in diet and still not lose their productivity.
Simmental breed
Animals of this breed are especially popular because they belong to the universal type. They have a very good milk yield – per year they give up to 4500 kg of 4,1-4,2% milk. At the same time, they are distinguished by a strong physique and large weight. Bulls can easily reach 1000-1200 kg and cows 600-800 kg.
In addition, the animals have a docile nature, are physically hardy and rather unpretentious in feeding.
Kholmogory breed
This is one of the oldest dairy breeds in Our Country, bred back in the time of Peter the Great from crossing black and white breeds with local northern cattle. The weight of cows ranges from 500 to 600 kg, bulls weigh about 900 kg. Productivity is about 4-5 thousand kg of milk per year.
Yaroslavl breed
Breed of cows and bulls of local origin. They are bred mainly in Our Country and Ukraine. The color is black with a white head. Weight – average, cows are about 500 kg, bulls – 600-700 kg. Milk yield with proper feeding can be 5-6 thousand kg of milk (4%) per year.
Animals are well adapted to temperate climates. Hardy and disease resistant.
Conclusion
Types of bulls in the wild are still pleasing with their diversity. They play an important role in maintaining natural balance, in addition, they can serve as an additional material for human selection work.
