Argentine Criollo

What do Argentine Criollo cattle look like?

The Argentine Criollo is one of the Criollo cattle of the Americas, a taurine group without the hump of zebu stock. Its coat can show any of the colours and patterns seen in Bos taurus, so no single colour defines the breed. Accounts of the cattle stress two things: they are calm to handle, and they carry a wide spread of genetic variation. That variation is the breed's chief working asset for farmers who want to cross it with established European breeds. The Argentine Criollo is one population within a much larger Criollo family that stretches across the Americas, and its ancestors were among the first bovines to reach the continent.

Where does the Argentine Criollo come from?

The Criollo cattle of the Americas all trace back to animals taken across the ocean on the voyages of Christopher Columbus. From them the Argentine Criollo developed in Argentina, living for generations under feral conditions, where natural selection rather than a breeder decided which animals reproduced. That went on for about 500 years and produced a population closely matched to its surroundings. In 1990 a breed society was founded in Argentina to register the cattle. Entry is not automatic: an owner's animals must be inspected and tested to prove a pure origin before they are accepted as purebred Argentine Criollo.

What the Argentine Criollo is known for

Two qualities stand out in descriptions of the breed: the animals are gentle to handle and they work well for the people who keep them. Behind that lies unusual genetic variety, rare among cattle that have been selected for a single purpose. Five centuries of feral living, with natural selection doing the choosing, left the Argentine Criollo well matched to its environment. Farmers value it as a crossing partner for conventional European breeds, because the offspring of such pairings tend to show strong hybrid vigour, the extra performance a crossbred animal often shows over either parent line.

How the Argentine Criollo is bred and kept

The breed was not shaped by a breeder's plan. For roughly 500 years these cattle lived feral, or close to it, and natural selection did the culling: only animals that coped with the surroundings bred on. That is the opposite of pedigree breeding and it explains the wide genetic base. A breed society set up in 1990 now keeps the register. To be entered, an animal must first be inspected and tested to prove purity of origin; only then does it count as a purebred Argentine Criollo. Crossing the breed with European cattle is a separate commercial practice, not part of registration.

What the Argentine Criollo is kept for

The documented role of the Argentine Criollo is as a crossing partner. Farmers put these cattle to established European breeds so that the calves carry strong hybrid vigour. The breed is also described as easy to work, which matters where stock is handled often through the year. Those two qualities, calm handling and wide genetic variety, are what the cattle are wanted for. The Argentine Criollo sits inside the Criollo group of the Americas, a population shaped by local conditions rather than close human selection.

The land and climate of the Argentine Criollo

The Argentine Criollo was formed in the open rather than in a barn. For about five centuries the cattle ran feral, breeding without a keeper's guidance, and the surroundings themselves decided which animals left offspring. Those that could not cope dropped out of the population, so the survivors are closely matched to the land they live on. That long spell of natural selection is why the breed is said to be closely adapted to its surroundings.

Related breeds and crosses

The Argentine Criollo is one of the Criollo cattle of the Americas, and it shares that group with its relatives across the region. All of them trace back to the animals carried across the ocean on the voyages of Christopher Columbus. The breed is also crossed on purpose with traditional European breeds, and those pairings are made for the hybrid vigour they produce. Criollo cattle as a group show the full range of Bos taurus coat colours and patterns, and the Argentine Criollo is no exception.

Numbers, conservation and the herd book

The breed society for the Argentine Criollo was set up in 1990, giving the cattle a herd book and a route into registered breeding. From then on, an owner who wanted stock entered had to have the animals inspected and tested to prove purity of origin; those that passed were classed as purebred Argentine Criollo. Registration rests on proof of origin rather than on appearance alone. The Criollo type is found in other parts of the Americas as well, so the Argentine population sits inside a wider group of cattle.

From the Argentine Criollo

Questions people ask about Argentine Criollo

Good reading and sources

• Argentine Criollo cattle on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data