Madagascar zebu
Carte d'identité
- Classe :
- Mammals
- Ordre :
- Artiodactyles
- Famille :
- Bovidae
- Genre :
- Bos
- Espèce :
- taurus
- Taille moyenne
- 125 cm
- Poids
- 250 to 450 kg
- Gestation
- About 285 days
A single young per birth - Habitat
- Savannas and dry plains
- Régime
- Herbivore
Not your ordinary cow
Its hump is an energy reserve! Contrary to popular belief, the zebu’s hump does not contain water: it is mainly made up of fat reserves, which provide it with energy when resources become scarcer.
Threats and conservation
The Madagascar zebu is threatened by pasture degradation, diseases and parasites, the erosion of genetic diversity and armed cattle theft. To protect it, pastures are safeguarded, local breeds are preserved and genetic diversity is maintained. The Madagascar zebu has no official status on the IUCN Red List: as a domestic animal, the criteria used to assess threatened wild species do not apply to it.
Fun fact
In the zebu, every pair of horns is different: they can be long, straight or curved, giving each animal a very distinctive silhouette!
