About animals | Zebu | The zebu is a species of cattle that is native to the jungles of South Asia and the Zebu is the only cattle species
that can easily adapt to life in the hot tropics. The zebu is also
known as the humped cattle as the zebu has a very distinctive hump on
its upper back, located behind the head and neck of the zebu. Today the
zebu can also be found in Africa, as the zebu was transported there from Asia many years ago. There are thought to be around 75 different species of zebu,
with roughly half the zebu species found in Africa and the other half
of the zebu species found in South Asia. The zebu has also been taken
to South America from Africa, where zebu populations are continuously
growing.
The zebu is one of the smallest species of cattle in the world with adult zebus reaching a height of just over a meter. The zebu is also about half the weight of a typical cow as
the zebu is considered to have less meat. The small size of the zebu
is thought to be the reason why the zebu is able to thrive in tropical
climates, where other species of cattle do not fair so well. The zebu
is a distinctive breed of cattle and besides the hump found on the
shoulders of the zebu, the zebu also has a large flap of skin below its
lower jaw, known as a dewlap, and the zebu also has long drooping ears.
The hump-less cattle found throughout Africa today are considered to
be a subspecies of the zebu that have adapted to life without their
characteristic hump. Nevertheless, these hump free cattle are able to
survive without complaint in their subtropical environment.
Due to the manageable size of the zebu, and the ability of the zebu to
cope with the tropicals climates, the zebu has been domesticated in
both its Native home in Southern Asia and in Africa as the zebu is
predominantly used for lighter agricultural work. The zebu is also
farmed for meat in some areas and the zebu is considered to be holy in
India where the zebu is thought to have originated from.
The zebu is thought to
have both parasite and disease resistant properties which is another
reason why the zebu are thought to thrive so successfully in their
native tropical environments. The zebu has also been interbred with the
native cattle of both Africa and Brazil, where the zebu is most common
outside of Asia, and many farmers consider the presence of a hump and
droopy ears to be a sign that their cattle is purely bred. There are
thought to be nearly 4 million zebu in farms around the world today,
with the highest number of these being found in India, Brazil and the
United States. The wild zebu can still be found in small herds in
Southern Asia but the wild zebu populations are not nearly as high,
mainly because of habitat loss due to deforestation.