Nelore Cattle: How This 'Indian' Breed Went On To Become The World's Most Expensive
Recently, Viatina-19 FIV Mara Im¨®veis, a cow was sold for a whopping $4.8 million or the equivalent of Rs 40 crore at an auction in Brazil, making it the most expensive bovinae ever.
The cow belongs to the Nelore breed, which is mostly found in Brazil, but as the name suggests has an Indian connection.
What is Nelore cow
The cattle breed, also known as Bos indicus traces its origins to Nellore in Andhra Pradesh.
What is today called the Nelore breed is derived from the Ongole cattle, an indigenous cattle that originated in Prakasam District of Andhra Pradesh.
How Ongole cows reached Brazil
The history of Nelore cows in Brazil dates back to a pair of Ongole Cattle that arrived in the country by ship in 1868.?
Since the cattle were brought from Nelore, they were named after the place. Another pair of cattle were brought to Brazil from Hamburg Zoo in 1878.?
However, most of the Nelore cows in Brazil today trace their lineage back to the one hundred animals brought to the country from India in the 1960s.
Brazil's best cattle breed
They became founders of important breeding lines like Godahvari, Karvadi and Taj Mahal, and were decisive to the great expansion of the Brazilian herd in the last 30 years.
Today there are an estimated over five million purebred registered Nelore cattle in Brazil.
What makes Nelore special
What makes Nelore cattle special and successful is how well they can adapt to a wide range of climatic conditions.
Nelore can adapt to all except very cold climates and are very resistant to high temperatures. They also have natural resistance to various parasites and diseases.
Their most distinctive characteristic is the presence of a prominent ¡°hump¡± behind their neck.
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