USA TODAY International Edition
Rare calf breathes new life into old breed
How unusual is this adorable little calf? He’s so rare, his breed can’t even be classified as “rare” in the U. S. yet. There are only about 40 of the cows in the country — 11 of which live at an interactive living history outdoor museum in Indiana.
The English Longhorn calf was born at Conner Prairie Interactive History Park, in Fishers, Ind., on March 22 from an embryo shipped over from England. It was implanted into a Shorthorn cow and finally, a calf that could breathe new life into an old breed was born.
English Longhorns have a long history in the United States, said Kevyn Miller, Conner Prairie Livestock manager.
“In this country, we can put them as far back as the Pilgrims. When they describe their cattle in the 1620s, they describe this cattle,” Miller said. And they were common through the 18th century and into the 19th, including the 1836 time period that’s recreated at Conner Prairie.
English Longhorns — not to be confused with Texas Longhorns, a Spanish breed — were favored in early America be- cause they were solid allaround animals, Miller said. They were good as a beef cow, good as a dairy cow, able to be used as oxen and fairly low maintenance. But they weren’t great at any of those things. Over time, as breeds became more specialized to be really good at being milk cows or beef cows, the Longhorn fell out of favor.
So over time, the breed dwindled. The only other herd in the U. S., about 25 cattle in Virginia, became inbred. So Conner Prairie worked to bring the embryo from England and give some diversity to the American gene pool. It’s hoped that this little guy could become a new breed sire and help grow the herd.
Miller said it’s important to care about this breed because once it’s extinct, it’s gone forever, and then we might not even know what has been lost. There are too few of the Longhorns to slaughter them for beef, so it is unknown what the meat tastes like. The milk can’t be harvested yet because the cows are giving just enough milk to feed their calves. It has been said to be rich in butterfat and great for cheese.