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Breed: White Park:
- The White Park is an all white cow with black points -- black ears, nose, hoofs,
rims of the eyes, and teats, but not the tail switch.
- They have long horns that can point in any direction, but a flat spread is the most common.
- The bulls stand about 4 feet at the withers, the cows about 3 3/4 feet.
- The White Park has a large foretop, a broad face, and a long narrow body. They are good-looking.
- They grow fast and do well on pasture. They are adaptable and have a long lifespan.
- They are said to be tempermental, especially the feral cows in the wild herds.
- The White Park is an ancient British breed, genetically distinct from other breeds.
- Although other breeds like the American White Park and the British White look very similar,
they are not related. The closest genetic relations to the White Park are the Highland and
Galloway of Scotland.
- White cattle with colored points are first mentioned in old Irish sagas; they are found again
in Welsh law of the early Middle Ages.
- Three herds (two in England and one in Scotland) date to the mid-1200s when herds were enclosed.
- The Chillingham herd in England is considered the purest because no known outside blood has
entered the herd since the enclosure.
- A couple of White Park herds in England are allowed to run wild on estate parks, and are
primarily kept to exist in their pristine genetic state.
- Some White Park have been brought to other countries; small herds are found in the United States,
Germany, Denmark, Australia, and Canada.
- Nevertheless, the White Park is considered critically rare; only about 500 purebred females
exist in the world.
Sources:
A Field Guide to Cows, by John Pukite, Falcon Press, Helena, Montana, 1996, pp. 88-89.
and
OSU's Breeds of Livestock
-- White Park Cattle page.
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