Talk:Gyr cattle

Article had claimed that the cross of Gir and Friesian is "a breed called Girolandês." However, there is only one google hit for that term outside Wikipedia. Better source needed. Rmhermen 22:40, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

Girolando

Actually, Google returns 5 hits for "Girolandês", but the real name of the bi-cross is "Girolando", from the protuguese names of the breeds forming it, "Gir" and "Holandês". Google returns about 23000 hits for Girolando, just check the link below: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=girolando

To go to the National Association of Girolando Breeders go to http://www.girolando.com.br.

Thanks! Yanaco (talk) 14:21, 14 August 2008 (UTC)

Pictures

How do I upload pictures to the Article?

Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Yanaco (talk • contribs) 21:12, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

Mainly a beef cattle

This race of zebu in used mainly as a beef cattle.Its use as a dairy cattle , really exists, but its not very common; even in Brazil.The main race for dairy cattle in Brazil is the girolanda.Agre22 (talk) 02:11, 18 June 2009 (UTC)agre22

Video with this race

This site: [Brazilian Gir] has a short video with this race.Agre22 (talk) 02:20, 27 June 2009 (UTC)agre22

Extinction of Gir Cattle in India

Gir cow originated in India and due to its relatively high quality milk yield was used exclusively for milk production. However, like all other natural resources that we Indians take for granted and have lost in the process, Gir cow is no longer available here. The primary reason for this is the lack of breeding program. Gir cattle were very highly priced in ancient India. When the barter system was in effect, cows and especially Gir cows were used to carry out trade in exchage of other valuable items/ services. This breed was know to provide excellent quality milk with high Fat and SNF (Solids not Fat) percentage, but was about average in terms of quantity. At the time when food crises was prevalent in India and milk production needed to be enhanced in terms of quantity, the government and its statutory agencies thought it to be a good idea to crossbreed this indigenous breed with those more commonly available in the western nations- Holstein Friesian and Jersey. This may have been an imperative step at that point since these 2 breeds yield more quantity milk, which was the primary focus. In this process however, the orginal Gir cow was lost and India has been too shortsighted to realise this. The best Gir cows in the world today are available in Brazil. This is nation which has done a commendable job in terms of developing a unique breed to suit their requirements- Girolanda or Girlanda. It took centuries to develop the famous Holstein Friesian breed but this does not mean that all the cattle in the world must be crossbred with this animal. For Indian conditions, Gir is still the most suitable dairy animal and if India wishes to have its famour Gir cow regain its lost glory, it is necessary to impelement a strong breeding program. It took decades for Brazil to develop their version of Gir cow and so we must do the same.

I believe that blaming India's Buffalo for extinction of Gir cattle is highly inappropriate. Indians do tend to prefer Buffalo milk to cow milk due to its higher FAT and SNF percentage and richer taste, but this has not led to the neglect of Gir cow. Today Buffaloes rank number one in India in terms of milk yield but only because the famour Gir cow is no longer available and not vice versa. If anything else, today the Indian Buffalo is in the same situation as Gir cow. No proper breeding programs have been established in the country and the animal is being mindlessly exploited for its export quality meat. Thankfully, India has the best dairy buffaloes in the world. Had they been available elsewhere, surely enough even this animal would have been mindlessly crossbred with other breeds. Buffaloes already happen to be poorly understood animals and statements such as "The breed is today on the verge of extinction from India as people of India are using more of buffalo milk then the cow's milk.." only goes to create unjustified prejudice and misconception regarding this excellent creature.

Chaitanya Konher (talk) 05:40, 21 June 2012 (UTC) Chaitanya Konher Dairy Assist, India

Hi Chaitanya, I just wanted to say that you should check out the Wikipedia policy on verifiability. Basically this means that we need to back up what we write with published, reliable sources like journal articles, books, magazines, or newspaper articles. That is something we need to talk about threats to Gyr cattle in this article. Steven Walling • talk 23:17, 24 June 2012 (UTC)

Spelling: Gyr vs. Gir ?

The content of this article refers to Gir, but the title is gYr.

What is the consensus?--AslanEntropy (talk) 23:51, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

Spelling is gir

Ganeshmuthyalawar5500 (talk) 01:37, 14 December 2017 (UTC)

The breed is misspelled in the title as "Gyr", the correct spelling is "Gir". This needs to be fixed. This is the primary spelling used in both of the origin and source of the breed in India as well as the in Brazil which represent the two regions with largest and original herds.