Islands: its breeds
Jersey, Guernsey, Kerry, Enderby Island and the small cattle of islands everywhere.
Islands have produced some of the best-known breeds and some of the strangest. Isolation keeps a breed pure, and limited grazing often favours small animals. The Jersey and the Guernsey of the Channel Islands, the Kerry and the Dexter of Ireland, the Bali cattle of Indonesia and the racing bulls of Madura are island cattle. So are the feral herds that lived for a century on remote islands, such as the cattle of Enderby Island in the subantarctic south of New Zealand.
The Channel Islands
Jersey and Guernsey lie off the coast of Normandy, and each gave its name to a small, fawn dairy cow known for rich, yellow milk. On Jersey, a law of 1789 banned the import of live cattle to the island, to keep the breed pure, and the Jersey herd book dates from the 1860s. Both breeds spread from the islands to England, North America, New Zealand and South Africa, and the Jersey is now one of the most widespread dairy breeds.
Ireland, Wales and the Scottish isles
The Kerry of southwest Ireland is a small, black, hardy dairy cow, among the oldest breeds of Europe. The Dexter, also Irish, is even smaller and is now popular on smallholdings. Welsh Black cattle, Highland cattle on the Hebrides and the native cattle of Shetland were all shaped by island and coastal grazing, wind and salt. Many of these breeds became rare in the twentieth century and were saved by enthusiasts.
Madura, Bali and the islands of Asia
On Madura, off the coast of Java, the native cattle are a mix of zebu and banteng, raised by farmers for work and meat and, in the best cases, for the karapan sapi bull races. On Bali, the island's own cattle are the domestic banteng, and Bali has been kept free of other breeds to protect them. In Sri Lanka and the Maldives, small local cattle were kept by island farmers long before imported breeds arrived.
Feral island herds
Cattle left on remote islands sometimes went wild and lived for generations without people. Cattle released on Enderby Island in the Auckland Islands lived wild there for about a century before they were removed to restore the island's plants and birds; a few were taken off to keep the line alive. On Amsterdam Island in the Indian Ocean, feral cattle lived from the nineteenth century until they were removed in 2010. In Hawaii, cattle given to Kamehameha I in 1793 began the herds worked by the paniolo, the Hawaiian cowboys.
Worth knowing
- Jersey: Fawn dairy cow of the island of Jersey
- Guernsey: Golden dairy cow of Guernsey
- Kerry: Small black dairy cow of southwest Ireland
- Dexter: Small Irish breed of smallholdings
- Madura cattle: Island cattle bred for karapan sapi races
- Bali cattle: Kept pure on the island of Bali
- Enderby Island cattle: Feral herd of the New Zealand subantarctic
- Paniolo: The cowboys of Hawaii
Good to know
- Small island breeds often thrive on rough grazing; avoid overfeeding.
- Shelter from salt wind matters on exposed coasts.
- On small islands, plan grazing carefully, since land and fodder are limited.
Sources and further reading
Original text by the EveryCow desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Customs are described as tradition, not as advice. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Islands on EveryCow
The breeds written up so far, best known first.
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 4 moreBali cattle
A small humped breed from Indonesia, descended from wild banteng, kept for meat and plowing.Banteng · Beef · Disease-resistant
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 5 moreBantengbanṭéng (Javanese/Sundanese)
A wild Southeast Asian ox; its tame form, Bali cattle, runs feral in northern AustraliaBanteng · Beef · Drought-hardy
🇮🇸 IcelandIcelandicíslenskur nautgripur
A small, mostly polled dairy breed isolated in Iceland for a thousand yearsTaurine · Dairy · Polled
🇪🇸 SpainMenorquina
A red, hornless dairy breed from the Spanish island of Menorca, prized for Mahón cheese production.Taurine · Dairy · Disease-resistant
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreSenepol
A polled red beef breed from St Croix, built for heat and insectsTaurine · Beef · Heat-tolerant
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreLuing
A hardy red or dun beef cow from Luing, a Hebridean island, first made in 1947Composite · Beef · Cold-hardy
🇮🇩 IndonesiaMaduraSapi madura
A small reddish-brown Indonesian hybrid of zebu and banteng, raced with a sledZebu · Sport · Quick and strong
🇵🇹 PortugalRamo GrandeRaça Bovina Ramo Grande
A large red-brown cattle breed from Terceira in the Azores, once used for work and milkTaurine · Triple-purpose · Thrifty foragers
🇬🇧 United KingdomAlderney
An extinct small dairy breed from the Channel Islands, dun or fawn and short-hornedTaurine · Dairy · Rich milk
🇯🇵 JapanMishima見島牛
A small black beef breed that survives only on Mishima Island, JapanTaurine · Beef
🇰🇷 South KoreaJeju Black제주흑우
A small black taurine breed kept on Jeju Island, now a national monumentTaurine · Dual-purpose
🇳🇿 New ZealandCampbell Island cattle
A feral herd on a New Zealand island, extinct by about 1984Taurine
🇦🇺 AustraliaTasmanian Grey
A polled beef breed from Tasmania, grey or dun, with Angus and Shorthorn rootsTaurine · Beef · Polled
🇵🇭 PhilippinesPhilippine Native
A small island zebu of the Philippines, kept for milk, meat and workZebu · Triple-purpose
🇺🇸 United StatesAleutian wild cattle
Feral cattle of the Alaskan Aleutians, linked by genetics to Highland cattleTaurine · Beef
🇮🇹 ItalySardo Bruna
A horned, mouse-grey beef breed from the island of SardiniaTaurine · Beef
🇳🇿 New ZealandEnderby Island cattle
A feral herd from a subantarctic island: small, long-barrelled, mostly black and whiteTaurine · Heritage · Cold-hardy
🇺🇸 United StatesHawaiian wild cattle
Feral cattle descended from animals given to a Hawaiian king in the 1790sTaurine · Spirited
🇬🇧 United KingdomSwona
A feral herd on an Orkney island, on its own since the last people left in 1974Taurine · Beef · Disease-resistant
🇫🇷 France and 3 moreJersey
A small brown dairy breed from the Channel Island of Jersey, known for rich yellow milkTaurine · Dairy · Heat-tolerant
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Menorquina: Discasto, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Luing: Andrew Wood, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Senepol: Buenoperez, Public domain, source
- Icelandic: Christian Bickel (user Fingalo ), CC BY-SA 2.0 de, source
- Ramo Grande: Carlos Luis M C da Cruz, Public domain, source
- Philippine Native: Rene G. Abad, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Banteng: Magalhães, Public domain, source
- Madura: Vebra, CC BY 3.0, source
- Bali cattle: Gsarwa, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Jeju Black: Jeju black cattle, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Alderney: Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, source
- Mishima: LT sfm, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hawaiian wild cattle: W Nowicki, CC BY 3.0, source
- Swona: Ian Balcombe, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Jersey: Man vyi, Public domain, source