Breeds of Ziro and the mithun hills
A high valley in Arunachal Pradesh where the mithun, a domestic form of the gaur, roams the forest and carries great social weight.
Breeds of this place
Best time: September, for the Ziro music season; March for Myoko.
Ziro sits in a wide valley of rice fields and pine woods in the Lower Subansiri hills, home of the Apatani people. Across Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, the mithun, a large black and white bovine descended from the wild gaur, is the most valued animal a family can own. It is the state animal of both Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.
The mithun
Mithun are heavy, glossy black or brown animals with white stockings and flat, wide horns. They are not milked or worked. Owners let them range freely in the forest, calling them back with salt, which they crave. Mithun are counted as wealth, given in marriage exchanges and offered in community rituals, and the number a family holds marks its standing.
Festivals and science
Many festivals of the region, such as the Apatani Myoko in spring, include the offering of animals, and mithun hold a central place in some of these rites. A national research centre on mithun, part of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, works at Medziphema in Nagaland on breeding, feeding and health. Ziro's own valley is known for rice farming with fish raised in the paddies.
A trail idea for Ziro and the mithun hills
- Ziro valley Apatani villages and terraced rice fields in a high, open valley.
- Forest edges Mithun graze in the woods around villages and come to salt licks.
- Hong village One of the larger Apatani villages, with traditional houses.
Written by the EveryCow desk with AI assistance. Background: "Ziro" on Wikipedia. Fair dates, markets and visiting rules change; check locally before travelling, and keep a respectful distance from working animals. If something is wrong, tell us.
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