Conservation status | |
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Other names |
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Country of origin | United Kingdom (Scotland) |
Distribution | world-wide |
Use | |
Traits | |
Weight | |
Coat | black with broad white stripe around middle |
Horn status | polled |
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The Belted Galloway is a traditional Scottish breed of beef cattle. It derives from the Galloway stock of the Galloway region of south-western Scotland, and was established as a separate breed in 1921. It is adapted to living on the poor upland pastures and windswept moorlands of the region. The exact origin of the breed is unclear, although the white belt for which they are named, and which distinguishes the breed from black Galloway cattle, is often surmised to be the result of cross-breeding with the similarly coloured Dutch Lakenvelder.
The cattle are reared principally for beef; they may also be kept for ornament or for conservation grazing (vegetation management).
The Belted Galloway derives from the traditional Galloway stock of the Galloway region of south-western Scotland, which in turn form part of a broader group of traditional Scottish cattle including the Aberdeen Angus and Highland breeds. [4] : 129 The Galloway is most often black, but other colours occur; the white-belted or white-middled Galloway was one of them. The origin of the white belt is unknown; it is thought to have resulted from some cross-breeding with the Dutch Lakenvelder in the seventeenth century. [4] : 129
From 1852, both Aberdeen Angus and Galloways could be registered in a herd-book for polled cattle. A separate Galloway herd-book was established in 1878. In 1921 a group of breeders set up the Dun and Belted Galloway Association, which – as the name suggests – registered both belted and dun-coloured animals; its first herd-book was published in 1922. In 1951 registration of non-belted dun cattle was discontinued, and the society changed its name to the Belted Galloway Society. [4] : 129 It also maintains herd-books for the Red Galloway and the White Galloway. [4] : 129
In the twentieth century the Belted Galloway was exported to many countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United States. Breed societies were started in New Zealand in 1948, in the United States in 1951, and in Australia in 1975. [4] : 129
Like other breeds, the Belted Galloway suffered heavily during the epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease in the British Isles in 2001, and a substantial part of the total population was lost. By 2007, numbers had recovered to the point where it could be removed from the endangered native breed watchlist of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust; [4] : 129 in the same year the global breed population was listed by the FAO as "not at risk". [1] : 143 In 2012, there were approximately 3500 registered breeding cows in the United Kingdom. [4] : 129
In 2022 it was listed by the American Livestock Conservancy as "watch"; [3] in 2015 the total number in the United States was reported to be 1468. [5]
The cattle are always belted, with a broad white belt completely encircling the body between the shoulder and the hind legs. For bulls, no white is permitted anywhere else on the animal; cows with some limited white markings on the lower legs can be registered in an appendix of the herd-book. The rest of the coat is normally black, but can also be dun or – more rarely – red. [4] : 129 The dun colour is caused by a mutation in the PMEL gene, the same mutation that causes dun and silver dun in Highland cattle. [6] : 9 The coat is double: a long coarse outer coat gives protection from rain, and a fine soft undercoat keeps the animal warm; the cattle do not need to develop thick subcutaneous fat for warmth in winter, and the meat tends to leanness as a result. [7]
Body weights may depend on both on climatic conditions and on the type of forage available. They are usually in the range 450–600 kg for cows, and 750–1000 kg for bulls. [4] : 129 Belted Galloways are generally of a quiet temperament, but cows have a strong maternal instinct and protect calves against perceived threats. [7] At least one person has been trampled by a herd of these cattle. [8]
The Belted Galloway is well adapted to harsh climatic conditions, hill terrain and rough grazing on coarse grasses; [4] : 129 it is normal for the cattle to be kept out throughout the winter, regardless of the weather. [7]
The Belted Galloway is reared mainly for beef; it may also be used for vegetation management, otherwise known as conservation grazing. [9] : 35 Cattle reared on forage alone may take up to four years to be ready for slaughter; beef from such cattle may have higher-than-usual levels of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. [4] : 129
An old strain is listed as the "Original Belted Galloway Cattle" in the Ark of Taste of the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity. [10]
The Highland is a Scottish breed of rustic cattle. It originated in the Scottish Highlands and the Western Islands of Scotland and has long horns and a long shaggy coat. It is a hardy breed, able to withstand the intemperate conditions in the region. The first herd-book dates from 1885; two types – a smaller island type, usually black, and a larger mainland type, usually dun – were registered as a single breed. It is reared primarily for beef, and has been exported to several other countries.
The Aberdeen Angus, sometimes simply Angus, is a Scottish breed of small beef cattle. It derives from cattle native to the counties of Aberdeen, Banff, Kincardine and Angus in north-eastern Scotland. In 2018 the breed accounted for over 17% of the beef production in the United Kingdom.
The Longhorn or British Longhorn is a British breed of beef cattle characterised by long curving horns. It originated in northern England, in the counties of Lancashire, Westmorland and Yorkshire, and later spread to the English Midlands and to Ireland. It was originally a slow heavy draught animal; cows gave a little milk, although high in fat. In the eighteenth century Robert Bakewell applied his methods of selective breeding to these cattle, which for a short time became the predominant British breed. Both the numbers and the quality of the breed declined throughout the nineteenth century and for much of the twentieth. A breed society was formed in 1878, and a herd-book published in that year.
The Galloway is a Scottish breed of beef cattle, named after the Galloway region of Scotland, where it originated during the seventeenth century.
The Lakenvelder is a Dutch and German breed of dairy cattle. It is reported from the Netherlands and Belgium, but may be extinct in Germany.
The Guernsey is a breed of dairy cattle from the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is fawn or red and white in colour, and is hardy and docile. Its milk is rich in flavour, high in fat and protein, and has a golden-yellow tinge due to its high β-carotene content. The Guernsey is one of three Channel Island cattle breeds; the other two are the Alderney, which is now extinct, and the Jersey.
The Dairy Shorthorn is a British breed of dairy cattle. It derives from the Shorthorn cattle of Teesside, in the North Riding of Yorkshire and in Northumbria in north-eastern England. The Shorthorn was for this reason at first known as the Durham or Teeswater.
The Dexter is an Irish breed of small cattle. It originated in the eighteenth century in County Kerry, in south-western Ireland, and appears to be named after a man named Dexter, who was factor of the estates of Lord Hawarden on Valentia Island. Until the second half of the nineteenth century it was considered a type within the Kerry breed.
The Murray Grey is an Australian breed of polled beef cattle. It originated between 1905 and 1917 in the upper Murray River valley, on the border between New South Wales and Victoria. It is similar in appearance to the Aberdeen Angus, from which it largely derives, but is grey, silver or dun in colour.
The South Devon is a British breed of large beef cattle. It originated in the counties of Devon and Cornwall in south-west England, and is mentioned from the eighteenth century. It was a dual-purpose breed, kept both for its milk and for beef. Since 1972 selection has been for beef only.
The Buelingo is a modern American composite breed of belted beef cattle, created in North Dakota, in the United States. It is named for Russ Bueling, who owned the foundation stock in the early 1970s.
The White Park is a modern British breed of cattle. It was established in 1973 to include several herds or populations of colour-pointed white cattle – white-coated, with points of either red or black on the ears and feet. Such cattle have a long history in the British Isles, and the origins of some herds go back to the Middle Ages.
The Old Gloucester or Gloucester is a traditional British breed of cattle originating in Gloucestershire and surrounding areas in the West Country of England. It was originally a triple-purpose breed, reared for milk, for beef and for draught use; it is now a dual-purpose animal. It is an endangered breed, and its conservation status is listed as "priority" by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.
The Sussex is a British breed of red beef cattle from the Weald of Sussex, Surrey and Kent, in south-eastern England. Its traditional use as a draught ox on the Weald continued into the twentieth century. From the late nineteenth century it began to be selectively bred for beef production. It has been exported to many countries of the world; the largest population is in South Africa, where there may be half a million head.
The Lincoln Red is a British breed of red-coated beef cattle. It originates in, and is named for, the county of Lincolnshire in the eastern Midlands of England. It was selectively bred in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries by crossing large local draught cattle of the region with Teeswater Shorthorns of medium size. It was at first known as the Lincolnshire Red Shorthorn, and was a dual-purpose breed, reared both for milk and for beef. The polling gene was introduced in the early twentieth century, and the cattle are now usually polled; the word 'shorthorn' was dropped from the breed name in 1960. In the twenty-first century it is reared for beef.
The Oxford Sandy and Black is a British breed of domestic pig. It originated in the county of Oxfordshire, and is named for that and its colour, which is a sandy brown with black patches. It is believed to be one of the oldest British breeds of pig.
The Blue Albion was a British breed of cattle with an unusual blue roan coat. It originated in the English Midlands in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, and was a dual-purpose breed, reared both for beef and for milk. It became extinct following the foot-and-mouth outbreak of 1967.
The Corse or Corsicana is a French breed of cattle indigenous to the island of Corsica.
The Vaynol is one of the United Kingdom's rarest breeds of cattle with fewer than 150 breeding animals registered. The breed is currently listed as “critical” on the Rare Breed Survival Trust list. There are currently three officially registered herds of Vaynol cattle existing in the United Kingdom. Together with the Chillingham and White Park cattle, the Vaynol is one of three horned breeds derived from ancient white parkland herds from Britain and Ireland. These park cattle were also the basis of a similar fourth breed, the polled British White.
The Dutch Belted or Dutch Belt is an American breed of dairy cattle. It derives from the Lakenvelder of Germany and the Netherlands, of which examples were imported to the United States from 1838. It became an important dairy breed in the early twentieth century, but could not compete with the Holstein-Friesian. By 1970 it was close to extinction; from 1993 the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy was active in the recovery of the breed. In 2021 it was listed as "critical" on the watchlist of the conservancy.