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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 to be domesticated by humans, and at the moment they are the main suppliers of meat, milk and various auxiliary products. Bulls can be found in almost all climatic regions of the planet: from the highlands of Tibet to the hot African savannas. The types of bulls are quite diverse. Fortunately, you can still find various types of bulls in the wild on earth, which are also used for breeding work with cattle.
Types of wild bulls
The bull is a powerful animal, with its entire appearance personifying the strength and power of wild nature. Unfortunately, the wild forest bull, or aurochs, the main ancestor of most European domestic cows, did not survive in its original state to the present day. It was finally destroyed, not without human help, back in the 17th century. But fortunately, many other species of wild bulls, which were also on the verge of extinction, have been saved and are now protected by conservationists. With their help, domestic breeds of bulls were once bred, which are now widely used by humans.
Banteng
This is a very rare species of wild bull that lives in the countries of Southeast Asia.In biological terms, he is closest to the gaur. The species was domesticated several centuries ago, after which it came to Australia, where it became slightly wild and formed another population there.
Bulls have a very neat appearance due to their short and smooth hair. 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 and readily reproduce in captivity.
Bison
This species of wild bull lives on the North American continent. It is considered one of the largest animals in America. After all, the bison reaches 2 m in height, 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 arrival of the European colonialists, animals began to be exterminated both simply for fun and in order to deprive the indigenous inhabitants - the Indians - of food.
Bison are distinguished by their particularly massive front part of the body, with thick and long hair (up to 50 cm long), often knocked into 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 curved inward.
The tail is short with a tassel at the very end.
The coat color of American bulls can be brown, gray or black. While young calves are distinguished by their 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 food for themselves under the snow. The herd is divided into bulls and cows with calves. It is dominated by the oldest bull.
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 types: Asian and African buffalo.
Africans are larger in size, with black or dark brown, coarse, sparse hair. They reach a height of 1.5-1.6 m and weigh about a ton. They usually live in savannas near water sources. They have a strong herd instinct, since they have to defend themselves from natural enemies: lions and crocodiles.
Indian buffaloes also have many subspecies: from giants, up to 2 m high, to the smallest wild bulls - anoa. The latter are only 80 cm high and weigh about 300 kg. Despite the fact that they are listed in the Red Book and are protected by law, poachers continue to shoot them, since 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 are even used for crossing with domestic bulls, due to their calm disposition, unpretentiousness and good performance.
Gaur
This species of bull is considered to be the largest that still exists in the wild. Indeed, the scale of its body is amazing: bulls grow up to 3 m in height, and their weight reaches 1600 kg or more. Sometimes they are even called Indian bison.
Despite such impressive size, the animals are distinguished by their calm and peaceful disposition. They are characterized by fearlessness, since even tigers are afraid to attack their herds.
Bulls are dark brown in color with short and shiny hair. Large up to 90 cm in length, but neat horns are located almost strictly vertically and have a crescent shape.
Their largest number remains in India (up to 30 thousand). In this country, they even bred a domesticated species of gaur - gayal. They are smaller in size and are actively used on the farm.
Zebu
If all the previous described species were related to the wild aurochs, then zebu are completely unrelated to it. This is an independent species of wild bull, also distributed mainly in India.
Animals are distinguished by the presence of a muscle-fat hump and skin secretions with a special aroma, due to which it is relatively safe from blood-sucking insects. They tolerate the highest air temperatures well.
In India, these bulls are often domesticated and even crossed with domestic animals, resulting in greater milk production, strength and stamina.
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 their smaller size and their head more clearly separated from the body. In Europe they are currently the largest mammals. A difficult fate also awaited the bison; they were almost completely exterminated, and the Caucasian subspecies managed to disappear from the face of the earth before people realized it. At the moment, these European bulls are listed in the Red Book and are carefully protected.
Bison have dark brown coat color with a small hump. The length of the body can reach almost 3 m, the height – 1.7-2 m. There is a pronounced mane. Life expectancy is 30-40 years. Bison swim well and overcome obstacles.
Yak
There are bulls that feel very comfortable in the harshest conditions of mountainous Tibet. This type of bull is distinguished by the enormous size of its body (height up to 2 m, length up to 4 m) and horns. The fur of yaks is also very long and tangled, reliably protecting them from frost and wind. Its color can be very different.
The yak was domesticated by the people of Tibet more than a thousand years ago. Pets have a much calmer character. But it’s better not to meet a wild yak. They are distinguished by enormous strength and ferocity. But they themselves avoid human society and live only in deserted regions. Therefore, the character and habits of wild yaks have been little studied.
Breeds of domestic bulls
It is interesting that if wild species of bulls, on average, are quite easily tamed, then domestic animals without humans also turn wild relatively quickly. To date, about 1000 cattle breeds are known, of 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 universal meat and dairy breeds. Below are several of the most popular bull breeds with photos.
Ayrshire breed
This breed is a pure dairy breed. It was bred in Scotland back in the 17-18th century. The color is most often red-white, sometimes brown-white, but with a predominance of light shades. The fur is smooth, the horns are curled.
Cows weigh on average 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 produce about 5500-6000 kg of milk, with a fat content of up to 3.9%. The advantage of Ayrshires is the economical use of feed. They adapt well to being kept in cold climates, but less well to arid climates.
Hereford breed
This pure meat breed was bred in England back in the 18th century. It is one of the most common in the world and is used to improve the meat characteristics of other breeds. Animals are very hardy and easily adapt to any climate conditions. It has very high productivity - up to 65% quality meat.
The color is reddish, there are white spots on the head. Cows easily gain up to 600 kg in weight or more, bulls - sometimes more than 1 ton.
The skin of these animals is also in high esteem. It is used to make luxury leather goods.
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 Russia; it has been known only since the beginning of the 20th century.Despite the fact that the breed was originally bred as a universal breed, it shows very good results in milk production - 5-6 thousand kg of 3.7-3.9% 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. Their precocity and high percentage of newborn survival at calving are also noted. Cows are able to easily tolerate a change in diet without losing their productivity.
Simmental breed
Animals of this breed are especially popular because they belong to the universal type. They have very good milk production - they produce up to 4500 kg of 4.1-4.2% milk per year. 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 an easy-going nature, are physically hardy and quite unpretentious in feeding.
Kholmogory breed
This is one of the oldest dairy breeds in Russia, bred back in the time of Peter the Great from crossing a black and white breed 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
A breed of cows and bulls of local origin. They are bred mainly in Russia and Ukraine. Color black with a white head.Weight is average, cows are about 500 kg, bulls are 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. Unpretentious and disease resistant.
Conclusion
Species of bulls in the wild still delight in their diversity. They play a big role in maintaining natural balance, and in addition, they can serve as additional material for humans for breeding work.
