Mithun (gayal)
The mithun or gayal, a domestic form of the gaur, kept in the hills of Northeast India, Myanmar and Bhutan.
The mithun or gayal, Bos frontalis, is the domestic form of the gaur, the great wild ox of the forests of South and Southeast Asia. It is kept in the hill forests of Northeast India, in the Chin Hills of Myanmar, in Bhutan, Bangladesh and the far south-west of China. Most of the world's mithun live in India, above all in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram. It is the state animal of both Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. Mithun are rarely milked or worked; they are kept as wealth and for feasts.
The animal
A mithun is a heavily built, dark brown to black animal with white stockings, a broad, flat forehead and thick horns that spread outward. It is smaller than a wild gaur, with a calmer temper and a larger dewlap. Mithun can breed with cattle, and some crosses are kept. Scientists still debate whether the mithun comes from gaur alone or from early crosses between gaur and cattle, and it is sometimes classed as Bos gaurus frontalis.
Free range in the forest
Mithun are kept in a way unlike most cattle. They usually range free in the forest, browsing leaves and shoots, and the owners find and call them by offering salt, which the animals crave. Each owner knows his animals by marks on the ears or horns. Because they browse more than they graze, mithun fit the steep, forested hillsides where cattle would struggle.
Wealth, gifts and feasts
Among the Naga, Adi, Apatani, Nyishi, Mizo, Chin and many other peoples, the number of mithun a family owns is a measure of its standing. Mithun are given as bride price, paid as fines and compensation, exchanged to settle disputes, and offered at the community feasts by which a family gains prestige. The ICAR National Research Centre on Mithun at Medziphema in Nagaland studies mithun breeding, feeding and milk.
Worth knowing
- Mithun: Domestic form of the gaur, kept in the hills of Northeast India
- Gaur: The wild ox of South and Southeast Asian forests, the mithun's wild relative
- Siri: Hill cattle of Bhutan and Sikkim, crossed with mithun in Bhutan
- Banteng: Another wild Asian ox tamed in its own right, the source of Bali cattle
Good to know
- Mithun need forest or tree-covered land to browse and a regular supply of salt.
- They are wary of strangers; regular contact with their keeper keeps them manageable.
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.
Mithun on EveryCow
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