Tswana
An indigenous beef breed of Botswana, a Sanga type with red or black coats
An indigenous beef breed of Botswana, belonging to the Sanga type of southern Africa and similar in build to the Barotse and the Tuli. Coats are solid red or black, or patched red and less often patched black; the cattle tolerate heat and ticks and are also kept in South Africa.
- An indigenous beef breed of Botswana, also present in South Africa
- A Sanga type, similar in build to the Barotse and the Tuli
- Coats are solid red or black, red patched or less often black patched
- Copes well in hot, dry country and tolerates ticks
- FAO did not list it in 2007; DAD-IS status unknown in 2023
What do Tswana cattle look like?
The Tswana is a beef breed of Botswana. Its name covers either a single breed or a group of related breeds. It belongs to the Sanga type, the southern African blend of humped zebu and humpless taurine cattle, and in build it resembles the Barotse and the Tuli. Coat colour varies: many animals are solid red or solid black, red patched coats are also common, and black patched coats appear less often. The cattle cope well in hot, dry country and carry a high tolerance of ticks. They are raised for meat.
Where does the Tswana come from?
The Tswana is indigenous to Botswana. It is a Sanga, the cattle type of southern and eastern Africa that came about where humped zebu stock met the humpless taurine cattle of the continent. In type it stands close to two other breeds of the region, the Barotse and the Tuli. Cattle of this breed are also present in South Africa, so herds are kept in both countries. It is a beef animal. Its coat may be solid red or solid black, or patched red, and more rarely patched black.
What the Tswana is known for
The Tswana is known for hardiness in hot, dry conditions. It tolerates heat, and it carries a high level of tolerance to ticks, the small blood-feeding parasites that trouble cattle in warm country. Cattle with those qualities can graze open rangeland through hot, dry weather. The breed is kept for beef. Its coat, whether solid red, solid black, red patched or, less often, black patched, is one of the plain markers of the type.
Tswana, drawn
What the Tswana is kept for
The Tswana is a beef breed. Herds are kept in Botswana, its home country, and in South Africa. The cattle graze on hot, dry rangeland, and their tolerance of heat, together with a high tolerance of ticks, lets them stay in condition where the climate is severe. Coats run from solid red and solid black to red patched, with black patched animals seen less often. Beef is the purpose recorded for the breed.
The land and climate of the Tswana
The Tswana belongs to hot, dry country. It is kept in Botswana and in South Africa on open grazing land where rainfall is low and the sun is strong. Its heat tolerance helps the animals go on feeding in high temperatures, and a high tolerance of ticks reduces the harm these blood-feeding parasites do. The breed is described as suited to hot, dry environments rather than to wet or cool ones.
At a glance: where it belongs
Land and climate
Numbers, conservation and the herd book
The FAO's 2007 survey of farm animal genetic resources did not list the breed, and the DAD-IS database still gave its status as unknown in 2023. Neither register carries a count of animals for it. The breed is found in Botswana, its country of origin, and also in South Africa. It is a beef breed of the Sanga type, with coats that may be solid red, solid black, red patched or, less frequently, black patched.
From the Tswana
Questions people ask about Tswana
Where does the Tswana come from?
Botswana. The breed is described as indigenous to that country, and it is also present in South Africa. It belongs to the Sanga type, the southern African cattle group formed from humped zebu and humpless taurine stock, and it is similar in type to the Barotse and the Tuli.
What is the Tswana kept for?
Beef. The Tswana is classed as a beef breed, and herds graze the hot, dry rangeland of Botswana and South Africa. Its tolerance of heat and its high tolerance of ticks are the qualities that let it stay on pasture in those conditions.
What colours do Tswana cattle come in?
Solid red and solid black coats are common. Red patched coats are also frequent, and black patched coats appear less often. Those four patterns, two solid and two patched, are the ones recorded for the Tswana.
How does it cope with heat and ticks?
The breed copes well in hot, dry environments and has a high tolerance both of heat and of ticks. Ticks are small blood-feeding parasites of cattle in warm regions, and a tolerant animal is less troubled by them. These two qualities are what the breed is best known for.
Is the Tswana a zebu or a taurine breed?
It is a Sanga, which means it comes out of the mixing of humped zebu cattle and humpless taurine cattle in Africa. Sanga cattle of southern Africa include the Barotse and the Tuli, the two breeds that the Tswana most resembles in type.
Good reading and sources
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Tswana 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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