Watussi, or ankole-watusi (Bos taurus taurus), is a wild bull native to Africa. They are distinguished from other artiodactyls by very long horns, reaching 1.8 meters.

Like many other breeds of cows, Watussi descend from extinct in the 17th century. primitive tours. Wild bulls (tours), about four thousand years ago, came to Africa from the banks of the Nile, where to this day their images have been preserved on the walls of the pyramids

Around the same time, humpbacked zebu bulls moved from India and Pakistan to the territory of present-day Ethiopia and Somalia, which gradually interbred with Egyptian cows, resulting in a species that became the basis of many breeds of African cattle.

In the countries of East Africa - Rwanda and Burundi, the offspring of Egyptian and Indian bulls were called "watusi", and their neighbors, the Ugandan tribes of Nkole, gave the new breed the name "ankole".

In Rwanda, where the Tutsi tribe ruled for a long time, Watussi were known as "insanga" - "once found" or "inyambo" - "cows with long horns". Animals with the largest horns fell into the herd of the king of the tribe and were considered sacred.

The lyre-shaped or cylindrical shape of the horns was considered the most preferable. The longer the horns, the wider they are at the base, and the weight of each horn is about 45 kilograms.

There are also record holders who got into the Guinness Book of Records. The bull named Lach (Lurch) his horns in girth reach 92.25 cm and weigh 50 kilograms each.

Watussi played an important role in the life of many African tribes - Tutsi, Ankole, Bahima, Bashi, Kigezi, Kivu. The Maasai tribe not only breeds Watussi, but also eats their blood diluted with milk.

In tribes where bulls and cows of the Ankole-Vatusi breed were considered sacred, they were almost never used as a source of meat, since the wealth of their owners was determined by the number of live cattle. All the attention of the owners was focused on obtaining the maximum amount of milk, and even a special technology was developed.

All day the cow grazed, and in the evening she was driven to the calf, which was allowed to take only a couple of sips to stimulate milk production. After that, the cow was milked, leaving the calf practically on a starvation ration. The same thing was repeated in the morning, as a result, the young animals died before reaching adulthood.

Watussi bulls are common not only in Africa, but also live in America, where in the 1960s. Walter Schultz brought in two bulls and one female, after which the wattussi quickly spread across the American continent. Due to their vitality, Watussi bulls "conquered" the New World. They are also found in Ukraine, Crimea.

The weight of adult bulls reaches 600-730 kilograms, cows - 400-550, and the weight of a calf during the first months of life does not exceed 15-23 kilograms.

Their digestive system is capable of digesting very rough food, with limited amounts of food and water. Their vitality allowed them not only to survive in Africa for centuries, but also
spread to other continents.

Watussi horns are pierced by a system of blood vessels and are used for thermoregulation in hot weather. The blood circulating through the horns is cooled by air currents and then returned to the body and lowers its temperature. This quality is indispensable in Ankole habitats, where temperatures can reach 50 degrees Celsius.

The Ankole Watusi have highly developed instincts to protect their young. Settling down for the night, adults lie down in a circle, and all calves are driven to the center, for greater safety.

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Africa Tur → Reference materials → Africa: an encyclopedic reference. Volume. 2. K-Z → CATTLE

CATTLE

CATTLE, domestic artiodactyl ruminants of the family. bovids (Bovidae), the genus of real bulls (Bos). In Africa, local cattle, which form the basis of the total livestock, belong to 4 types: 2 types of humpless cattle (Bos taurus) - long-horned (longhorn) and short-horned (shorthorn type); humpbacked (Bos indicus) - zebu; sanga (obtained from crossing zebu and humpless cattle).

Naib, a common breed of humpless long-horned cattle - n "lady. Breeding areas - countries of West Africa. Animals are undersized (bulls weigh 220-420 kg), with light bones, poorly developed dewlap and abdominal fold. Horns (length 45- 50 cm) crescent or lyre. Humpless cattle of the Kuri breed (Chad, Nigeria, Niger) are the most large (weight 300-800 kg) among the breeds of Western Africa, with giant (70-130 cm long), but light club-shaped horns, white, light gray or grayish-brown color Milk yield 350-800 kg, sometimes up to 1800 kg of milk per lactation Adapted to hot humid climate, excellent swimmer.

Western-African shorthorn - a group of humpless short-horned breeds, of which the most common are the so-called. savanna shorthorns - baole (Côte Divoire, Burkina Faso), samba (Togo and Benin), savannah muturu (Nigeria), bakosi, doayo and kapsiki (Cameroon), as well as dwarf shorthorns - lagun (Cote Divoire, Togo) , Benin) and forest muturu (Liberia, Nigeria). Animals are mostly black and black and white. Milk productivity is low (120 -360 kg of milk).

Boran is a breed of zebu, common in the countries of the East. and North-East. Africa. The animals are large, high-legged, with an upright hump of the chest, small horns. The color is usually white or gray, red and spotted are also found. With pasture semi-nomadic content, they are used to obtain milk (450-1800 kg, sometimes up to 2500 kg per lactation, fat content 4.1-6.8%). In most of the East Africa distributed small east.-African. zebu, including the Mongalla breed (eastern part of Sudan), bukedi (Uganda), nandi (Kenya), Tanzanian and Zanzibar zebu. Animals are small, squat, with a hump falling on the back or sideways. The color is gray, grayish-brown, brown. They are used to obtain meat and milk (for bukedi 230-1000 kg per lactation, for other breeds it is lower).

Sanga cattle, common in the Center, and South. Africa, unites several. breeds, of which naib, are typical of nguni (Swaziland, South Africa, Mozambique), Afrikaner (South Africa), tuli (Zimbabwe). Animals mainly with a cervicothoracic hump, with long horns decomp. forms. Contain for the sake of milk (600 -1500 kg per lactation) and meat.

In Africa, domestic short-horned buffaloes are also bred (Egypt, from where they were brought to Tanzania) - dairy (1200 -1800 kg of milk with a fat content of approx. 8.5%), meat (the live weight of bulls is approx. 700 km) and working animals. Livestock K. r. with. in Africa (1981) 171 million, meat production 2.87 million tons, milk 10.34 million tons. year. milk yield per cow is 493 kg of milk. Wed carcass weight of slaughtered cattle 139 kg. Milk production per capita 22.02 kg, meat 5.92 kg. L. V. Kulikov. KRUSH (Cruz) Joaquim Jose yes (years of birth and death unknown), leader of the anti-Portuguese. uprisings in the early 50s 19th century in bass R. Zambezi (on the territory of modern Mozambique). Inflicting serious defeats on the Portuguese. army, K. taxed the entire Portuguese. trade on the river Zambezi. A number of carats, expeditions organized against K., ended in failure. After K.'s death, his son António Vicenti (or Bonga) destroyed the Portuguese in 1853. fort at Tete. The struggle was also continued by another son of K. It was not until 1888 that the Portuguese succeeded in putting down the uprising.