Welcome to the Natalika Zoo-- Kuri Cattle Exhibit

This exhibit will help you learn about a common African mammal: Kuri cattle. To become better aquatinted with this animals, please take a walking/boating tour available on weekdays at nine o'clock or visit our Large Expensive Restaurant.

Natural Habitat

Kuri cattle are mostly found on the shores of Lake Chad, which is mostly in Chad, Africa but has some shorelines in Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon (see map). There are a few herds that live in other wetlands in these countries. These countries have a very warm climate: the temperature is virtually always between twenty and thirty degrees Celsius. This region is also relatively dry: it is classified as semi arid and gets around 4 cm of rain a year, which falls in a 'monsoon season' between June and September. This climate has had a profound affect on the evolution of this breed of cattle. The pointed horns that most cattle use to dig though snow and find plant material have evolved into bulb shaped horns that give bulls an advantage when fighting over mates and act as floatation devices when swimming. Also, Kuri cattle have no winter coats, as there is no true cool season in these countries. Lake Chad is surrounded by much vegetation: acacias, baobab, desert date, palms, African myrrh, grasses and Indian jujube are all land plants found surrounding Lake Chad. Papyrus, ambatch, water lilies, and reeds are aquatic plants that live in Lake Chad. Kuri cattle eat these aquatic plants. Perhaps most vital to these cattle's existence, though, is water. They have little tolerance to heat and sunlight, in fact, much of their day is spent immersed in water with only their nostrils above the surface. This breed has no true protection against "drying out", so it cannot survive even a short drought. Despite the fact that they are surrounded by kilometres of plains they rarely leave the lake. They stay either in the lake, or in the ring of muddy marshlands that surround the lake. Kuri cattle have many predators in their natural habitat. These are mostly carnivorous mammals, such as lions and leopards. Additionally, Tsetse-fly transmitted trypanosomiasis is a parasite that causes a huge number of deaths in these cattle. Also, leeches in the marshes live on these cattle's blood. Mosquitos are also parasites that live on Kuri cattle. So do ticks, which cause a disease called "East Coast" Fever. Gastrointestinal roundworms, such as Trichostrongyles

also live inside Kuri cattle. Parasites are a common problem among Kuri cattle as they tend to thrive in tropical climates, like the one of Lake Chad.

`The Natalika Zoo Kuri cow habitat has paid the utmost attention to recreating this natural habitat. For this reason a lake has been dug. It is 56 km across, and averages 1.5 metres deep, just like Lake Chad. A building around it keeps the cattle at temperatures between twenty and thirty degrees Celsius, with the temperatures fluctuating based on the time of day. These cattle are given twelve hours of daylight (caused by a large solar lamp), which is similar to the number of daylight hours in Chad. The temperature of the lake is also controlled to be between 15 and 35 degrees Celsius, depending on the season (lake Chad tends to be warmer than the air in the summer and cooler than the air in the winter). The monsoon season is simulated by some computer controlled fire sprinklers. A marsh area has been created around the lake, and plants native to lake Chad have been planted and added to the water. Additionally, lions, leopards, trypanosomiasis infected flies, leeches, mosquitos, fever infected ticks and gastrointestinal roundworms have been added to this exhibit as to control the cattle population, and best simulate these cattle's natural habitat.

Kuri Cattle Features and Adaptations

Kuri cattle's bodies are characterized by unusual adaptations to their environment. Kuri cattle have long, muscular legs and wide hoofs to aid with swimming. This is essential, as Kuri cattle depend on aquatic plants as a food source. Additionally, they have wide bulbous horns (often 55 cm in diameter and 130 cm long) that act as floatation devices. These horns are paired, hollow, and unbranched, like those of all bovines. Also, they are well adapted to eating tough plant materials: like also most all ruminants Kuri cattle have four chambered stomachs. The first one, the rumen is essentially an oesophageal extension, it covers the chewed food with saliva. It also contains bacteria the break down cellulose. After being in this stomach chamber, food is then ruminated (regurgitated) and chewed again. Food is then swallowed again, and passes though the rumen to the three other stomachs, the reticulum, the omasum, and the abomasum. Food then passes though the intestines and out through the anus (Kuri cattle also have a urinary tract to remove metabolic wastes). This complex digestive system helps Kuri cattle to both digest very tough plant material, and to live on a virtually protein free diet, as the bacteria in the rumen are digested and used a protein.

Kuri cattle also have several adaptations to warm temperatures. Kuri cattle, like all mammals use lungs for respiration, They usually breath through nostrils above their mouths. These are places so that Kuri cattle, when their heads are lifted, can submerge themselves completely in water, with only their nostrils above the water. This water submersion helps the keep cool in warm weather. Also, they are white in colour and have very little hair to help them keep cool. They also have very little body fat, unlike North American cattle, while females are 135-m 145 cm tall, they weigh only about 400 kg, and while males are 152- 180 cm tall, they weigh only about 475 kg. This an adaptation to keeping cool. As well, Kuri cattle have very shallow bodies, that make them more hydrodynamic while swimming.

Like all mammals, blood is pumped in Kuri cattle by a four chambered heart though a closed circulatory system.

Kuri cattle have some means of self protection and defence. They have wide set eyes that allow them to see almost all the way around their body. They also have ears capable of hearing sound much higher and lower than humans. This helps them identify predators and run (or swim) away from them. Nonetheless, while Kuri cattle have relatively complex brain, they can be easily outwitted by predators. This leaves the weaker members of herds very vulnerable.

Life Span and Reproduction

Kuri cattle live in herds of about thirty females and one male. Males fight for a position, and essentially mating rights, in a herd. This is one reason why the large horns have evolved in these cattle: males with large horns tend to win these fights, and have to opportunity to mate with many females and produce many offspring, who also have large horns. The fact that Kuri cattle males fight over mates has caused some difficulty in the taxonomy of this species. While Kuri cattle have the body structure and genetics of subspecies taurus, they physically fight over mates, which is unique to subspecies indicus. It has been suggested that they are a cross of the two, but this is still under debate. Kuri cattle live about twenty years in the wild, although males without herds live a shorter amount of time, as they are very prone to predation. Many males also die early as a result of fighting.

The Kuri cattle breeding season is between May and September. Fertilization is internal, and the foetus develops inside the mother for between 280 and 290 days. While the foetus develops, it is attached to a placenta through an umbilical chord. This allows the foetus to receive oxygen and nutrients while it is developing. Kuri cattle generally have single offspring. Calves are born in the spring. Kuri calves (young cattle) weight about 40 kg at birth, and are able to walk almost immediately after they are born. Female Kuri cattle produce about four litre of milk a day that their offspring live on until 7-12 months old for females, and 9-14 months old for males. Kuri cattle are capable of reproducing at around two years of age.