Product Code Database
Beefalo constitutes a hybrid offspring of domestic cattle ( Bos taurus), usually a male, and the American bison ( Bison bison), usually a female, in managed . The breed was created to combine the characteristics of both animals for beef production.
Beefalo are primarily cattle in Genotype and Phenotype, with the breed association defining a full Beefalo as one with three-eighths (37.5%) bison genetics, while animals with higher percentages of bison genetics are called bison hybrids. However, genomic analysis has found that the vast majority of Beefalo, even those considered pedigree by the breed association, have no detectable bison ancestry, with no sampled Beefalo having higher than 18% bison ancestry, with most Beefalo consisting of a mixture of Cattle cattle and zebu cattle ancestry.
One of the first efforts to cross-breed bison and domestic cattle was in 1815 by Robert Wickliffe of Lexington, Kentucky. Mr. Wickliffe's experiments continued for up to 30 years.
Another early deliberate attempt to cross-breed bison with cattle was made by Colonel Samuel Bedson, warden of Stoney Mountain Penitentiary, Winnipeg, in 1880. Bedson bought eight bison from a captive herd of James McKay and inter-bred them with shorthorn. The hybrids raised by Bedson were described by naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton:
After seeing thousands of cattle die in a blizzard in 1886, Charles "Buffalo" Jones, a co-founder of Garden City, Kansas, also worked to cross bison and cattle at a ranch near the future Grand Canyon National Park, with the hope the animals could survive the harsh winters. He called the result "cattalo" in 1888. Mossom Martin Boyd of Bobcaygeon, Ontario first started the practice in Canada, publishing about some of his outcomes in the Journal of Heredity. After his death in 1914, the Canadian government continued experiments in crossbreeding up to 1964, with little success. For example, in 1936 the Canadian government had successfully cross-bred only 30 cattalos.
It was found early on that crossing a male bison with a domestic cow would produce few offspring, but that crossing a domestic bull with a bison cow apparently solved the problem. The female offspring proved fertile, but rarely so for the males. Although the cattalo performed well, the mating problems meant the breeder had to maintain a herd of wild and difficult-to-handle bison cows.
In 1965, Jim Burnett of Montana produced a hybrid bull that was fertile. Californian cattle rancher D.C. "Bud" Basolo developed the Beefalo breed in the 1970s. He did not reveal the precise pedigree of the breed.
The breed is defined by The American Beefalo Association as being genetically at least five-eighths Bos taurus and at most three-eighths Bison bison.
In 2024, a genetic study, including historical samples from Basolo's foundational herd, found that the majority of Beefalo cattle who were genomically sequenced (39 out of 47 sampled), including those from Basolo's original herd, had no detectable bison ancestry. Of the 8 that did have some bison ancestry, this was no higher than 18% (and as low as 2% in some individuals), which is much lower than that of the supposed pedigree. Most Beefalo were instead found to be either entirely of taurine cattle ancestry or more commonly, mixed with varying levels of zebu ancestry in proportions of 2% to 38%.
Dr. Dirk Van Vuren, formerly of the University of Kansas, however, points out that "The bison today that carry cattle DNA look exactly like bison, function exactly like bison and in fact are bison. For conservation groups, the interest is that they are not totally pure."
In some American states, cattalo are regulated as exotic animals, along with pure bison and deer. However, in most states, bison and hybrids which are raised solely for livestock purposes similar to cattle, are considered domestic animals like cattle, and do not require special permits.
|
|
