All breeds
146 breeds so far, best known first. 294 more are on the list to be written.
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreWild yak
A massive, shaggy wild bovine native to the high plateaux and peaks of the HimalayasYak · Beef · Cold-hardy
🇲🇳 Mongolia and 4 moreYakགཡག་
A shaggy, cold-hardy highland bovine kept across the Himalayas and Tibetan PlateauYak · Triple-purpose · Cold-hardy
🇵🇱 Poland and 5 moreAurochs
The wild ancestor of all domestic cattle, extinct since 1627Wild · Long-horned
🇳🇱 Netherlands and 5 moreTauros
A breeding-back project building hardy cattle to stand in for the extinct aurochsWild · Grazing · Cold-hardy
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreAyrshire
Red-and-white dairy cattle from south-west Scotland, hardy, long-lived and easy calversTaurine · Dairy · Easy calving
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreHeck
A German type bred in the 1920s to recreate the extinct aurochsTaurine · Grazing · Cold-hardy
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreGalloway
A polled black beef breed from south-west Scotland with a thick double coatTaurine · Beef · Cold-hardy
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreBeefalo
A cattle and bison hybrid raised for beef in the United StatesComposite · Beef · Cold-hardy
🇭🇷 Croatia and 5 moreBuša
A little mountain cow of the Balkans with short horns, kept for milk, meat and workTaurine · Triple-purpose · Disease-resistant
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan and 1 moreKazakh WhiteheadedҚазақтың ақбас сиыры
A Hereford-like beef breed from Kazakhstan and the lower Volga, horned and hardyTaurine · Beef · Cold-hardy
🇫🇷 France and 2 moreAbondance
A red and white dairy breed from the French Alps, kept for milk and mountain grazing.Taurine · Dairy · Heat-tolerant
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreBelted Galloway
A polled Scottish beef breed with a distinctive white belt around its black body.Taurine · Beef · Cold-hardy
🇸🇪 SwedenFjällSvensk fjällras
A polled, mostly white dairy cow from the Swedish mountains, hardy on thin grazing.Taurine · Dairy · Polled
🇵🇹 Portugal and 1 moreCachena
A small Iberian breed from northern Portugal and Galicia, kept for beef and formerly for draught work.Taurine · Beef · Docile
🇸🇪 SwedenSwedish Red PolledRödkulla
A hornless red Swedish cow kept for milk and meat, once reduced to about 20 animals.Taurine · Dual-purpose · Polled
🇦🇹 AustriaTux-ZillertalTux-Zillertaler
A stocky Alpine breed from Tirol, black or red, once bred for cow-fighting contests.Taurine · Beef · Spirited
🇦🇹 Austria and 1 moreTyrol GreyTiroler Grauvieh
An alpine dual-purpose breed of the Tyrol, milked and fattenedTaurine · Dual-purpose · Cold-hardy
🇫🇷 FranceVosgienne
A medium-sized French breed from the Vosges mountains, kept for milk and meatTaurine · Dual-purpose · Cold-hardy
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreLuing
A hardy red or dun beef cow from Luing, a Hebridean island, first made in 1947Composite · Beef · Cold-hardy
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreMurnau-Werdenfels
A long-lived brown dairy breed of the Bavarian uplands, milk and beefTaurine · Dairy · Long-lived
🇪🇸 SpainPajuna
An endangered Andalusian breed, dark bulls and red-brown cows, once used for draught workTaurine · Draught · Cold-hardy
🇪🇸 Spain and 1 moreAlbera
A small cold-hardy breed of the Albera Massif, black or pale, used to clear scrubTaurine · Beef · Cold-hardy
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreHinterwaldHinterwälder Rind
A small Black Forest cow, white head and pied coat, kept for both milk and beefTaurine · Dual-purpose · Cold-hardy
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Swedish Red Polled: Ankara, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Belted Galloway: Jamain, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cachena: Rosino, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Buša: P.Cikovac, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kazakh Whiteheaded: Горбунова М.С., CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tux-Zillertal: Böhringer Friedrich, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Heck: 4028mdk09, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tyrol Grey: Burkhard Mücke, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Vosgienne: Eponimm, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Luing: Andrew Wood, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Abondance: Walpole, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Aurochs: Jaap Rouwenhorst (photograph) DFoidl (GIMP modifications), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Murnau-Werdenfels: Pippo-b, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ayrshire: Biggle, Jacob., Public domain, source
- Pajuna: DFoidl, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Yak: 4028mdk09, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Fjäll: Yvonne Zimmermann, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
- Wild yak: Jim, the Photographer, CC BY 2.0, source
- Galloway: GerardM, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Beefalo: Mark Spearman, CC BY 2.0, source
- Albera: Tylwyth Eldar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hinterwald: -- Xocolatl 10:55, 26 April 2008 (UTC), Public domain, source