Guzerá

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Guzerá
a humped grey bull with dark head and foreparts, dark legs, and dark rump and tail
Bull in Avaré
Cow in Avaré
Conservation status
Other names
  • Azulego
  • Kankrej
  • Guzerat
Country of originBrazil
Distribution
Use
  • meat
  • dual-purpose line
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    900 kg[2]
  • Female:
    600 kg[2]
Height
  • Male:
    165 cm[2]
  • Female:
    154 cm[2]
Coatusually grey or white[3]: 193 
Horn status
  • horned in both sexes
  • polled variant
  • Cattle
  • Hybrid Bos (primigenius) taurus/indicus

The Guzerá or Guzerat is a Brazilian breed of taurindicine cattle. It derives from cross-breeding of Indian Kankrej cattle, imported to Brazil from 1870 onwards, with local taurine Crioulo cattle of European origin.[3]: 193  The name is a Portuguese spelling of that of the western Indian state of Gujarat.[3]: 193 

History

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From about 1870 Kankrej bulls from the Indian state of Gujarat were imported to the Cerrado region of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, where they were cross-bred with local cows of Crioulo type, giving rise to the Guzerá; the name is a Portuguese spelling of 'Gujarat'. Some Kankrej cows were also imported, and zebuine mitochondrial DNA is carried by roughly 70% of modern Guzerá cattle.[3]: 193  The cattle spread to Uberaba and to northern São Paulo State, and later to the states of Goiás and Rio de Janeiro and to states in the Nordeste region.[3]: 193 

The herd-book for the breed was started in 1938; in it, three separate lines are distinguished: the beef type, a dual-purpose meat and dairy line (Guzerá Leiteiro) and a polled variant (Guzerá Mocho).[3]: 193 [4]: 866  In 2010 there were approximately 92000 head registered, constituting some 3.5% of the total number of indicine cattle in Brazil; there were about 17500 new registrations in that year.[3]: 193  The total number reported for the breed for 2022 was just under 40000.[2]

The Guzerá was one of the principal breeds from which the American Brahman was developed in the twentieth century,[3]: 137  and has contributed to the development of several other Brazilian breeds. Among these are the Guzolando, from cross-breeding with Holandesa (Friesian) stock; the Indu-Brasil, from crosses with Brazilian Gir and Nellore;[3]: 193  the Lavinia, from crossing with the Schwyz;[5]: 711  the Normanzu, from crosses with the Normande;[5]: 153  and the Pitangueiras, from cross-breeding with the Red Poll.[3]: 193 

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Guzerá.
  1. ^ Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to: The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Breed data sheet: Guzerá / Brazil (Cattle). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed August 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 9781780647944.
  4. ^ Marleen Felius (2025). Cattle Breeds: An Encyclopedia. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 9789004449015.
  5. ^ a b Marleen Felius (1995). Cattle Breeds: An Encyclopedia. Doetinchem, Netherlands: Misset. ISBN 9789054390176.