Tux (cattle)
Tux Cattle are a rare cattle breed native to the Alpine region of Europe. It is one of the older, endangered cattle breeds. Tux is a village in the Tux Valley in Tyrol in Austria.
Characteristics
Tux Cattle have black or red hair with white spots on the pelvis, the tail root, the ventral abdomen and on the udder. The head is short and broad with strong horns. The trunk is compact, broad and muscular, the legs relatively short. Bulls average height is 140 cm, weight 800 - 900 kg. Cows average height is 120 - 130 cm, weight 550 - 600 kg. Tux cattle are frugal and were once kept on mountain pastures.
Similar to Herens cattle, Tux cattle have a high potential for aggression, resulting in long fights between the cows. In former times they were selected on their fighting ability, which resulted in decreased milk performance. Tux cows produce 1,500 kg milk per year on average. Herens cows that are similarly frugal deliver more than twice that amount. However, the milk fat content of Tux cows is about 8%, while that of Herens cows is about 3.7%.
Breeding history
Tux cattle are said to stem from the Herens breed. Originally the Tux breed was common in Tyrol and was involved in breeding diverse other alpine breeds. Today it has been displaced by more productive cattle breeds and is only kept in the Ziller Valley.[1] Tux cattle also were used in the development of some Russian cattle breeds.[citation needed]
Today, only some 110 to 300 animals exist.
