Cattle (called cows in vernacular usage, kine archaic, or kye as the Scots plural of cou) are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. They are raised as livestock for meat (called beef and veal), dairy products (milk), leather and as draught animals (pulling carts, plows and the like). In some countries, such as India, they are subject to religious ceremonies and respect. It is estimated that there are 1.3 billion head of cattle in the world today *.
Cattle were originally identified by Carolus Linnaeus as three separate species. These were Bos taurus, the European cattle, including similar types from Africa and Asia; Bos indicus, the zebu; and the extinct Bos primigenius, the aurochs. The aurochs is ancestral to both zebu and European cattle. More recently these three have increasingly been grouped as one species, sometimes using the names Bos primigenius taurus, Bos primigenius indicus and Bos primigenius primigenius. Complicating the matter is the ability of cattle to interbreed with other closely related species. Hybrid individuals and even breeds exist, not only between European cattle and zebu but also with yaks, banteng, gaur, and bison, a cross-genera hybrid. For example, genetic testing of the Dwarf Lulu breed, the only humpless "Bos taurus-type" cattle in Nepal, found them to be a mix of European cattle, zebu and yak. Cattle cannot successfully be bred with water buffalo or African buffalo. (See aurochs for the history of domestication, and zebu for peculiarities of that group.)

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AGropolis - Extensive links and pdf files presented by Texas AM University relating to health and research issues in beef and dairy cattle including Paratuberculosis, calving problems, predation (coyotes), reproductive diseases.
Meta Description: [ Texas A&M Agricultural Communications ]
Animal Info - Wild Yak - Biology, ecology, habitat, and status of the yak, and information on its wild habitat, including biodiversity, ecosystems, population, and land use.
Meta Description: [ Biology, ecology, habitat, and status of rare, threatened and endangered species of mammals and information on their native countries: biodiversity, ecosystems, population, and land use ]
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Australian Calf Rearing Research Centre - Calf rearing, education, information, products, forum, consultancy, research.
Meta Description: [ This is a support site for all who are interested in calf rearing for the beef or dairy industries. ]
Beef Breeds of Livestock - Class reference material for common U.S. beef breeds.
Beef Stocker USA - Designed specifically for beef producers who background and/or run stocker or yearling cattle on various forages across the United States. A service of Kansas State University.
Calf Country - Information concerning calf rearing including calculators, saleyard, rearing methods, Vet services, shed designs, discussion groups, and industry news. New Zealand based.
Cattle Pages: Beginners' Questions - Discussion board for those that are new to raising cattle. Hundreds of topics, updated daily.
Meta Description: [ The Cattle Pages is the Internet guide to the
cattle industry, including a directory of more than 7000 cattle ranches in over
50 breeds, a web discussion forum, chat rooms,classified ads,
online publications, and directories for cattle services, supplies, equipment,
and breed asso... ]
Center for Bison Studies - Montana State University at Bozeman - The primary mission of the Center is to serve as a regional center for information exchange and research on all aspects of the biology and management of the American bison
Cow Calf Corner - Oklahoma State University's PBS television show web site, with a large library of cattle breeding information.
Foot and Mouth Disease - Comprehensive information on the symptoms and transmission of Foot-and-Mouth Disease, from the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Gala Design - A transgenics company using recombinant proteins for the improvement of livestock genetics. Located in Saulk City, WI, USA.
Meta Description: [ Gala Design has the scientific staff and protein expression systems needed to solve pharmaceutical prodution challenges in the era of genomics ]
Infigen, Inc. - Commercial application of cloning technologies in the cattle breeding, pharmaceutical, and nutraceutical fields - a division of ABS Global.
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Intertribal Bison Cooperative - Information about nonprofit organization formed in 1990 to coordinate and assist the tribes in returning bison to Indian Country. Includes copyrighted photos of bison.
Meta Description: [ Intertribal Bison Cooperative ]
Iowa Beef Center - Provides research based information on beef cattle, production, marketing and management.
Nebraska Extension Publications - Beef - Information and publications catalogue on beef production.
Meta Description: [ The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, founded in 1869, is one if the nation's premier land-grant institutions. UNL is a member of the Association of American Universities and is classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a Doctoral/Research University-Extensive. ]
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The Yak - Endangered in the Wild. - World Conservation Monitoring Centre - WCMC/WWF Species Under Threat, presents current statistics on populations of Yaks in the wild.
Meta Description: [ UNEP-WCMC . ]
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