Bakosi
A Savannah Shorthorn from Cameroon's south-west, kept for meat, hides and bride price.
Bakosi cattle are a Savannah Shorthorn breed from the highlands of south-western Cameroon, kept by the Bakossi people. Coats run from black to white, with brown or black on most animals, and the breed is raised for meat and hides, for bride price and for ritual.
- A Savannah Shorthorn breed kept in Cameroon by the Bakossi people.
- Also known as Bakuri or Kosi.
- Raised for meat and hides, bride price and ritual.
- Coats run from black to white; brown and black animals are the majority.
- Cows calve again 18 to 24 months after the previous calf.
What do Bakosi cattle look like?
Bakosi cattle are a breed in the Savannah Shorthorn group, kept in Cameroon by the Bakossi people. Their coats span black through to white, and brown or black animals together account for more than half of a herd. A cow calves again eighteen to twenty-four months after her last calf. Meat and hides are taken from the breed, and animals are also handed over as bride price and needed for ritual. Bakuri and Kosi are further names for the same cattle.
Where does the Bakosi come from?
Bakosi cattle belong to the highlands in the south-west of Cameroon, the country where the breed is native. The town of Nkongsamba marks their eastern side, and their grazing country runs westward from it, across the line dividing the Southwest Region from the Littoral Region. The Bakossi, the community that keeps them, gave the breed its name, and the cattle are also called Bakuri or Kosi. In classification the breed sits within the Savannah Shorthorn group.
How the Bakosi is bred and kept
The Bakossi are the people who maintain the breed, and the cattle live within that community's home country in the Cameroon highlands. Cows calve at intervals of eighteen to twenty-four months, so a cow rears one calf roughly every year and a half to two years. Colour within a herd is mixed: black, white and the browns in between all occur, though brown and black animals are the majority.
Bakosi, drawn
What the Bakosi is kept for
Beef and hides are the products taken from Bakosi cattle. The animals carry a second, social value: they are handed over as bride price when a marriage is arranged between families. Ritual occasions are a third call on the herd, since cattle are required for those ceremonies as well. A herd therefore answers several needs at once, from meat and leather to marriage payment and custom. Cows also reproduce slowly, with eighteen to twenty-four months between calves, so a herd grows at a modest pace.
The land and climate of the Bakosi
Their country is the mountainous south-west of Cameroon, the district lying west of Nkongsamba where the Southwest Region meets the Littoral Region. Bakossi households keep the cattle within that home ground, and it is there that the herds are found. The breed carries the name Savannah Shorthorn, the group to which it is assigned in classification.
Who keeps the Bakosi
The Bakossi are the people who keep these cattle, and the breed's name in English comes from them. Their home is the mountain country of south-western Cameroon, west of Nkongsamba and along the boundary between the Southwest and Littoral regions, and that is where the herds stand. Animals move between Bakossi households as bride price, so cattle change hands as part of marriage arrangements. The same community calls on the breed for its rituals.
At a glance: where it belongs
Faith and ritual
Ritual use is one of the reasons the Bakossi keep these cattle. Animals are needed for ceremonial occasions within the community, and the breed appears in those settings alongside its everyday roles of meat and hides. Bride price is another formal obligation in which the cattle serve: they are the animals handed over when a marriage is arranged. Both belong to the custom of the Bakossi.
Custom and folk tradition
Bride price is the custom in which these cattle matter most to the Bakossi. When a marriage is arranged, animals pass from one family to the other as the payment that seals the agreement. Because cattle are what changes hands, a household's herd carries a social weight beyond its worth in meat and hides. The ritual uses of the breed belong to the same body of Bakossi tradition.
Questions people ask about Bakosi
Where do Bakosi cattle come from?
They come from the highlands of south-western Cameroon. Nkongsamba lies to the east of their home country, which stretches westward across the boundary between the Southwest Region and the Littoral Region. The Bakossi people, who keep the breed, live in that district.
What are Bakosi cattle kept for?
They are kept for beef and for their hides, and they have ceremonial work as well. Cattle of this breed are handed over as bride price when a marriage is arranged, and they are needed for rituals. A herd serves all of these needs.
What colour are Bakosi cattle?
Their coats cover a wide range, from black at one end to white at the other. Brown and black animals are the most common, making up more than half of the cattle in a herd.
How often does a Bakosi cow calve?
Calving happens at intervals of eighteen to twenty-four months. A cow therefore has a gap of a year and a half to two years between one calf and the next, which makes herd growth slow.
What kind of cattle are they?
They are classed as a Savannah Shorthorn, the group in which the breed sits. They are also called Bakuri or Kosi, and they belong to the Bakossi community of Cameroon's south-west.
Good reading and sources
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Bakosi cattle", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). EveryCow rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. Sizes, colours and customs differ from one herd, valley or breeder to the next. Folk beliefs are described as tradition, never as advice. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-16.
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