🐃 Mithun
Also known as: gayal, Bos frontalis
The gayal (mithun), a domesticated bovine of the mountain forests of Northeast India, Myanmar and Bhutan.
The mithun, or gayal, is a domesticated bovine of the mountain forests of the Eastern Himalayas: northeastern India (Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram), Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan and China’s Yunnan province. The world population is estimated at about half a million head, most of them in India.
The mithun is above all a cultural and meat animal. Among many peoples of the region it serves as bride price, a measure of wealth, a means of payment and a sacrificial animal at festivals. Mithuns are rarely milked: milk is taken only in certain areas of Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram, while in Bhutan people milk mithun crosses with local cattle, called jatsham.
The yield is small, about 1–1.5 kg a day, but the milk is very rich: by various accounts, from several to more than 10% fat, with high protein content.
How it connects to milk
Links
- What milk it gives
- 🥛 Mithun milk
- Feeds with milk
- 🍼 Calf
- Belongs to
- 🔬 Mammal
- Where it is milked
- 🌍 South Asia
- Part of
- 🐄 Cattle
Frequently asked questions
What is a mithun?
A domesticated bovine of the Eastern Himalayan mountain forests, closely related to the wild gaur; it is also called the gayal.
Do mithuns give milk?
Yes, but they are rarely milked: the yield is about 1–1.5 kg a day, though the milk is very rich.
Why is the mithun so valuable?
Among many peoples of the region it serves as bride price, a measure of wealth and a sacrificial animal at festivals.
Similar
🐂 Zebu · 🐃 Water buffalo · 🐃 Yak · 🐄 Cow · 🦙 Llama · 🦙 Alpaca