Alambadi

What do Alambadi cattle look like?

The Alambadi is a zebu breed, meaning it belongs to the humped kind of Indian cattle rather than the humpless kinds of Europe. It carries horns. Its home is Tamil Nadu at the southern tip of India, and herds have also been kept in neighbouring Karnataka. Through most of its history this was a working animal: the sort of ox trained to pull, haul and plough, with milk a side matter. It also had a place in the local racing sports of its region. That sporting life is now gone, the working role has shrunk, and the breed stands close to extinction, with true Alambadi animals hard to come across.

Where does the Alambadi come from?

The Alambadi breed arose in Tamil Nadu, the state at India's southern tip. Herds have long been kept across the border in Karnataka as well. It belonged to the working countryside of the far south: oxen pulled and ploughed, and the cattle ran in local sporting contests. Its fortunes have since fallen away. Farmers and breeders name two causes for the near disappearance. One is the banning of bio-cultural sports such as Raekla racing, which took away one of the breed's old roles. The other is the spread of exotic foreign crossbred cows, which pushed local stock aside. Today an Alambadi is a rare sight in the fields it once worked.

How the Alambadi is bred and kept

Very few Alambadi animals are left, and coming across a true one is unusual. The breeders who still keep the line are working to raise its milk output, since in the past the cows were not bred mainly for dairy. Their task is made harder by the wide use of exotic foreign crossbred cows, which farmers blame for displacing the old breed. Keeping the remaining animals reproducing is the central job for those who want the line to survive, and every true Alambadi cow matters to that effort.

What the Alambadi is kept for

For most of its history the Alambadi earned its keep as a draught animal, the kind of cattle trained to pull ploughs and carts. That work was the main reason farmers kept it, and milk came second. The balance is now meant to change: breeders are trying to lift the milk yield of the traditional stock so that the breed pays its way on a modern farm. The breed also had a sporting side, being linked with Raekla racing, one of the bio-cultural sports of its region. Farmers say that when those sports were banned, a strong reason to keep Alambadi cattle disappeared with them.

The Alambadi at fairs and festivals

Raekla racing was the great occasion for this breed, a contest described as a bio-cultural sport in which the cattle of the region were raced. Alambadi animals were among those kept for such events. The sport has since been banned, and the ban sits at the centre of the breed's troubles: farmers and breeders state plainly that the outlawing of contests like Raekla racing, together with the spread of foreign crossbreds, is why the Alambadi has all but vanished.

Numbers, conservation and the herd book

Alambadi cattle are close to disappearing altogether. The breed is called almost extinct, and finding a true animal is described as a rare event. The remaining stock is kept in its two home states, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Breeders have not given up on it: they are working to raise the milk yield of the surviving animals, hoping to give farming families a practical reason to keep the old line going.

Questions people ask about Alambadi

Good reading and sources

• Conserve Alambadi cattle breed, farmers toldThe Hindu, Article

• Alambadi (cattle) on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data