The Dølafe is a rare breed of

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

. The breed originates from the Gudbrand Valley,

Østerdalen Østerdalen () is a valley and Districts of Norway, traditional district in Innlandet county, in Eastern Norway. This area typically is described as the large Glåma river valley as well as all its tributary valleys. Østerdalen is often subdivide ...

and

Hedmarken (, ; known as ''Hedemarken'' until 2003) is a traditional district in Innlandet county in Eastern Norway. Hedmarken consists of the municipalities Stange, Hamar, Løten, and Ringsaker. In the past, it also contained the municipalities of Ro ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. These areas offered good conditions for livestock with easy access to rich mountain pastures. Most Dølafe cattle today came from a single herd at

Fåvang Fåvang is a village in Ringebu Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located in the Gudbrandsdal valley, along the Gudbrandsdalslågen river, about north of the town of Lillehammer (town), Lillehammer. The European route E6 h ...

in the Gudbrand Valley. Once considered to be endangered, since the 1990s, the activity of the breed has increased and the number of animals has increased considerably. The Dølafe is a small-

bone A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...

d cow with short legs. They are normally horned. It is a multicolored breed, ranging from almost uniformly dark brown to

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

and

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

individuals. On average, they weigh approximately .

References

Cattle breeds Cattle breeds originating in Norway {{cattle-stub