At Triplicane and some
other parts of Chennai, it is a common
scene – cattle freely roaming in the narrow streets – cows are more aggressive
– while buffaloes docile. The water
buffalo or domestic Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is a large buffalo.
It is stated that water buffaloes were domesticated in India about 5000 years
ago, and in China about 4000 years ago. Two types are recognized, based on
morphological and behavioural criteria.
Water buffaloes are especially suitable for tilling rice fields, and
their milk is richer in fat and protein than that of the dairy cow. An online selling site shows Murra buffaloes
costing from 26000 to 40000 depending on the yield from 6 litres to 14 litres
per day.
Surprisingly
there are beauty pageants for them too….. and this not about any animal that
fetched high price in auction, but more of an animal that its Owner refused to
sell, even when offered an astronomical Rs. 7 crore as headlines scream.
Yuvraj photo courtesy : karamveerdairyfarm.com
The person is stated to be
Mr Karamveer Singh, who runs a farmn in Kurukshetra,. Haryana. His prized possession stands five feet nine
inches tall from hoof to shoulder, stretches 14 feet from his mouth to tail,
and weighs a whopping 3100 pounds.
Named Yuvraj [translates to Young
Prince], the Murrah Buffalo is among the most expensive bovines on the planet.
Yuvraj is perhaps superseded only by Miss Missy, a white Holstein Cow which was
sold for, believe it or not, $1.2 million!
The Murrah, a basic native
of the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana and Punjab state of Pakistan, is a
Water buffalo breed (Bubalus bubalis) and is considered as the foremost milking
buffalo. For improving the milk
productivity of dairy buffaloes, Murrah bulls are widely used in countries like
Bulgaria, Italy and Egypt. Its website claims that Karamveer Dairy Farms has
long been practicing Murrah Buffalo and Bull Breeding with the intent of
improving Murrah breed’s genetic potential. The Murrah has Jet black colour,
with occasional white markings on legs and/or face, and have closely curled
horns. In general, Murrah bulls weigh around 550 kg.
Karamveer
Dairy Farm has the best dairy type Murrah bulls and buffaloes in the world;
with buffaloes capable of yielding milk as high as 25 kg a day. The Murrah
buffalo breed is considered as the “Asian tractor”. Yuvraj
was in news in Feb 2014 when some Press reports speculated on its value to be
more than 2 crores. Recently, this
giant 1400kg Murrah bull was crowned
champion at Meerut's All India Cattle Show by a 10-member jury, startled as
much by the animal's size as by his owner's refusal to sell it for a
mind-boggling Rs 7 crore.
It reportedly is capable
of earning from selling semen of bull
over Rs. 40 lakh per annum as there is a great demand for semen of this
special bull in several states including
Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The murra buffaloes are capable of giving 4,000 litres of milk per
lactation as against the 2,000-2,200 litres of milk given by a mixed breed
buffaloes,” dairy expert say and hence the demand. Its owner Karamvir Singh, is quoted as saying
that "everything in life is not
about money." – and he does not really need money by selling it.
The animal is being
treated toyally – as the animal that stretches to 14 feet in length and a
couple of notches over 5 feet 9 inches in height, drinks 20 litres of milk a
day, gobbles 5kg of apples and 15kg of very fine quality cattle feed. It is taken for a 4km walk daily and the
owner spends more than Rs25000/- daily.
According to a Senior scientist at Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Agriculture
University where the competition for India's top bull was held, "Yuvraj is
a perfect specimen of the Murrah breed."
"He has earned the
Best Animal trophy and there's a reason for that," quips the Head of Animal Husbandry department at Meerut. The jury reportedly had scrutinized 30 characteristics that
include morphological trait, semen quality, genetic history and even the
quantity of milk that its mother used to yield. On all parameters, Yuvraj had
shown excellence." Besides the
Murrah there were other breeds that participated in the national-level cattle
show, like the Tharparker, Brown Swiss, Gir and Jersey varieties. Yuvraj, of
course, was the winner of them all
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
