Ankole-Watusi (cattle)

Ankole Watusi (cattle)

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Ankole-Watusi (cattle)

Ankole-Watusi are a breed of cattle

Cattle

Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domestication ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. They are raised as livestock for meat , dairy products , leather and as draft animals ....
originally native to Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Ankole-Watusi (cattle)'

Start a new discussion about 'Ankole-Watusi (cattle)'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Ankole-Watusi are a breed of cattle

Cattle

Africa

Horn (anatomy)

A horn is a pointed projection of the skin on the head of various mammals, consisting of a covering of horn surrounding a core of living bone....
as do the Texas Longhorn

Texas longhorn (cattle)

The Texas Longhorn is a breed of cattle known for its characteristic horns, which can extend to tip to tip for steers and exceptional cows and bulls in the 70 to 80 inch tip to tip range....
though the horns of the Watusi are more distinctive because of their great circumference instead of for their length. They are sometimes known as Ankole or Watusi. Like many cattle

Cattle

Aurochs

The aurochs or urus was a very large type of cattle that was prevalent in Europe until its extinction in 1627. The animal's original scientific name, Bos primigenius, was meant as a Latin translation of the German language term Auerochse or Urochs, which was interpreted as literally meaning "primeval ox" or "proto-ox"....
who became extinct in the 17th century. Watusi, for over 6000 years, have played a pivotal role in the lives of various African tribes - Tutsi

Tutsi

The Tutsi are one of three native peoples of the nations of Rwanda and Burundi in central Africa, the other two being the Twa and the Hutu....
, Ankole

Ankole

Ankole, also referred to as Nkore, is one of four traditional kingdoms in Uganda. The kingdom is located in the southwestern Uganda, east of Lake Edward....
, Bahima, Bashi, Kigezi

Kigezi

Kigezi District once covered what are now Kabale District, Kanungu District, Kisoro District and Rukungiri District. Its terraced fields are what gives this part of Uganda its distinctive character....
, and the Kivu

Kivu

Kivu was the name for a large "Region" in the Democratic Republic of Congo under the rule of Mobutu Sese Seko that bordered Lake Kivu. It included three "Sub-Regions" : Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu and Maniema, corresponding to the three Subdivisions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in 1988....
- although the Tutsi

Tutsi

The Tutsi are one of three native peoples of the nations of Rwanda and Burundi in central Africa, the other two being the Twa and the Hutu....
are most often associated with the breed. The cattle provided food, currency, and tribal status. In Rwanda

Rwanda

The Republic of Rwanda is a small landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of east-central Africa, bordered by Uganda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania....
, where the Tutsi

Tutsi

The Tutsi are one of three native peoples of the nations of Rwanda and Burundi in central Africa, the other two being the Twa and the Hutu....
ruled, Watusi were known as "Insanga" or "the ones which were found" and "Inyambo" or "the cows with long, long horns." Those with the largest and longest horns belonged to the King and were considered sacred, with some individuals having horns that measure twelve feet from tip to tip. The breed is often referred to as the 'Cattle of Kings'.

Their digestive systems have the ability to utilize poor quality and limited quantities of food and water. These survival abilities have allowed them as a breed to not only survive the centuries in Africa but to become established on the continents of Europe, South America, Australia and North America.

The animals' large horns are honeycombed with blood vessels, and are used to thermo-regulate in hot temperatures. Blood moving through the horns is cooled by moving air, and then flows back into the body and lowers the animal's body temperature.

Watusi first came to America in the 1960s when Walter Schultz imported two bulls from Scandinavia and a female from Europe. Thanks to the efforts of private breeders, zoos, and associations, this magnificent animal is no longer endangered.

A Watusi steer named Lurch is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest horn circumference.

Ankole-Watusi (cattle)

External links