The Gir or Gyr is an Indian

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

zebuine cattle The zebu (; ''Bos indicus''), also known as indicine cattle and humped cattle, is a species or subspecies of domestic cattle originating in South Asia. Zebu, like many Sanga cattle breeds, differs from taurine cattle by a fatty hump on their sh ...

. It originated in the

Kathiawar Kathiawar (), also known as Saurashtra, is a peninsula in the south-western Gujarat state in India, bordering the Arabian Sea and covering about . It is bounded by the Kutch district in the north, the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest, and by the ...

peninsula in the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

, and the name of the breed derives from that of the Gir Hills in that region. Other names include Bhodah, Desan, Gujarati, Kathiawari, Sorthi and Surti. These cattle were exported to Brazil from the early twentieth century, and the Brazilian Gir numbers about five million head;

selective breeding Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant m ...

since the 1960s has led to the development of separate dairy (Gir Leiteiro) and beef strains.

History

The Gyr originated in the

peninsula in the

the name of the breed derives from that of the Gir Hills in that region. Its traditional breeding range extended into the

Amreli Amreli is a city and a municipality in Amreli district in Indian state of Gujarat. History It is believed that during 534 AD Amreli existed was formerly known as Anumanji, Amlik and then Amravati. The city is named in ancient Gujrati as ''Amar ...

Bhavnagar Bhavnagar is a city and the headquarters of Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was founded in 1723 by Bhavsinhji Gohil. It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, which was a princely state before it was merged into the Dominion ...

Junagadh Junagadh () is the city and headquarters of Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Located at the foot of the Girnar hills, southwest of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar (the state capital), it is the seventh largest city in the state. It i ...

and

Rajkot Rajkot () is the fourth-largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the ...

districts of the state. It was known by a number of different names, among them 'Bhodah', 'Desan', 'Gujarati', 'Kathiawari', 'Sorthi' and 'Surti'. It has been used locally in the improvement of other breeds including the

Red Sindhi The Red Sindhi is a dairy breed of zebuine cattle. It is believed to originate in western Sindh and in the Las Bela area of Balochistan in undivided Indian Subcontinent,now in Pakistan. It is widely kept in Pakistan, and distributed to Indi ...

and the

Sahiwal Sahiwal ( Punjabi / ; ; ), formerly known as Montgomery, is a city in central Punjab, Pakistan. It is the administrative capital of both Sahiwal District and Sahiwal Division. It is the 19th largest city of Pakistan by population accordin ...

. It was also one of the breeds used in the development of the

Brahman In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' (; IAST: ''Brahman'') connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality of the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part XII In the ...

breed in North America. In

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and other South American countries the Gir is used frequently because, as a ''Bos indicus'' breed, it is resistant to hot temperatures and tropical diseases. It is well known for its

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

producing qualities and is often bred with Friesian cows to make the Girolando breed.

Characteristics

The Gir is distinctive in appearance, typically having a rounded and domed forehead (being the only ultraconvex breed in the world), long pendulous ears and horns which spiral out and back. Gir are generally mottled with the colour ranging from red through yellow to white, black being the only unacceptable colour. They originated in west India in the state of

and have since spread to neighbouring

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

and

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

. Cows average in weight and in height; bulls weigh on average, with a height of . At birth, calves weigh about . In India in 2000 the Gir numbered about , or 37% of the 2.5 million cattle population of the

Saurashtra Saurashtra, Sourashtra, or variants may refer to: ** Kathiawar, also called Saurashtra Peninsula, a peninsula in western India ** Saurashtra (state), alias United State of Kathiawar, a former Indian state, merged into Bombay State and since its d ...

region of Gujarat. In 2010 the population in Brazil was estimated at approximately five million.

Use

The average milk yield for the Gir in India is per

lactation Lactation describes the secretion of milk from the mammary glands and the period of time that a mother lactates to feed her young. The process naturally occurs with all sexually mature female mammals, although it may predate mammals. The process ...

, with approximately fat.

References

Dairy cattle breeds Cattle breeds originating in India Animal husbandry in Gujarat {{bots, deny=Citation bot