Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Knickers the cow: why Australia's giant steer is so fascinating

Via Niece Antonia

Holy cow! Knickers the enormous steer has avoided the abattoirs by being too big.

Seven-year-old whose size saved him from the slaughterhouse goes viral


First, the news, such as it is: there is a giant cow named Knickers in Western Australia and people have gone crazy.

Technically he is not a cow, but a steer (a neutered male). But he is giant, standing at 1.94 metres (6ft 4in ) to his withers (the shoulder). This is just shy of the world record-holding steer, Bellino, who lives in Italy and stands at 2.02 metres. Knickers, a Holstein Friesian, weighs in at 1,400kg (220 stone) and is believed to be the biggest steer in Australia.

And, for some reason, Knickers and his sizeable existence are the talk of the internet, making news all over the world.

More @ The Guardian

2 comments:

  1. I remember reading a book many years ago about ancient cattle breeds and one of the highlights that I can conjure was they were much larger then today's cattle. The book stated they were breed down to a smaller size so they can be better handled by men. Looks to be a genetic throw back...

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