WATUSI CATTLE

The bulls, Kumi and Mchawi lead the way to the fenced pasture as the small herd stays tightly together

STORY BY BETSY ILER & PHOTOS BY KENNETH BOONE

The Stables welcomed four unique new residents this spring when a small herd of registered Ankole Watusi cattle moved into the southside pasture on Stables Loop, said Linda Ingram, who along with her husband, Stanley, manages The Stables operations for Russell Lands. Two steers and two bulls were purchased from a breeder in North Carolina last winter, but clearance to export the exotic African animals to Alabama took more than a month.

To make room for the cattle, the Ingrams moved some of The Stables’ horses to other pastures on the property.

“That takes some doing because horses don’t always get along with each other. You have to see which ones like

Tbeing together,” he said. Russell Lands Chairman Ben Russell was inspired to bring the exotic animals to Russell Crossroads after he saw them elsewhere, Stanley said. “He thought they would be interesting for people to see. I had worked with some small ones for roping years ago, so he asked me to find some,” Stanley said. “They are unusual.” Watusi cattle have been privately bred in the United States since 1960, Ingram said, but there are only about 1,200 registered Watusi cattle in the U.S. today. In the 1930s, African nations prohibited exportation of Ankole Watusi, and for many years, they could only be seen in zoos.

Only about 1,200 Watusi are registered in the U.S., as African nations prohibited exportation in the 1930s

Among some African tribes, the cattle are sacred. Natives of Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Eastern Africa, the large, tall cattle are a sign of wealth and pride in the African nations where they live, Ingram said.

“They are part of the bride prize, the dowry,” she explained.

Registered steers can be purchased for about $3,000 each, and the price of bulls starts at $5,000. Breeding females run $12,000 to $30,000 or more – if a breeder is willing to let the animals go, Stanley said.

“We purchased the two steers, and after the breeder saw where the animals were coming to, he called and said he had two bulls for us, too. He could see that the animals would be well cared for and have plenty of room,” he said.

Each of the cattle has been given a Swahili name. The steer with more brown color on its haunches is Akiki, and the one with more curve to its horns is Kitanga. The bulls are difficult to distinguish from each other and are named Kumi and Mchawi.

To help Russell Crossroads’ visitors learn about the new residents, Ingram is preparing an educational panel that will display a photo of each cow, along with information about the origins of the breed, their lifestyle and habitat.

The animals’ most distinguished features are their tremendous horns, which can grow up to 6 feet from tip to tip. An animal’s horns can grow in a variety of positions, from long and lateral to curving upwards or even curling, Ingram said.

The circumference of their horns can reach 20 inches or more and be about 8 inches in diameter. The horns are hollow and act as radiators that help the animals stay cool in extreme heat. Blood cools in the cattle’s horns before circulating throughout their bodies.

Watusi are very drought tolerant and have been known to survive for several months when food and water are scarce.

Russell Lands’ bulls are a dark reddish-brown color with lateral horns. The steers are white with reddish brown blotches, and their horns have curved upward. The Watusi each also have a small thoracic hump on their backs at the base of their necks. They have long, slender legs compared to most other cattle and measure about 6 feet at the shoulders. Though they weigh up to 1,600 pounds, they are surprisingly agile.

“They can jump, and they run quickly. They’re energetic when they get moving, but they walk slowly. When they walk, their horns kind of dip from side to side,” Ingram said.

As a breed, they are very protective of each other, and they usually stay close together, especially if they are spooked.

“In the wild, they circle up when they feel threatened, and they put the young in the middle of the

Though they weigh 1,600 pounds, the cattle are very agile

The Watusi are wary of strangers and do not like to be petted or hand fed, but they are interesting to see 40 LAKE JUNE 2022

circle. Here, when they are spooked, you can see them start to walk around in a circle,” Ingram said.

Unlike other cattle, the Watusi cannot be herded into pens or other places but must be lead, Stanley said. And they don’t always respond when he calls them or shows up with feed.

While they are grazing animals, Stanley supplements their diet with mineral salt and cow or horse feed to keep them healthy and their coat colors bright. The Watusi also hook low hanging tree branches with their horns and pull them down to graze on the leaves.

“They need about one lush acre per cow,” Stanley said.

At the bottom of the pasture, Stanley built a small pen for the cattle, and they recently started to amble down to the pen when he appears with feed.

“They are skittish, and they won’t take food from strangers. They’re not pets. They don’t like to be petted,” he explained.

And though Watusi meat is reputed to be quite tasty, with lower fat and cholesterol than other commercial beef, these cattle will not be raised for meat or bred, Stanley said.

“They’re just to look at.”

The Watusi like the shade and often can be sighted at the south side of the back fence nearer the top of the Crossroads property.

“They like to hang out there and pull the tree limbs down,” he said.

The trunks of select pine trees in the pen bear the signs of the cattle rubbing their horns on them. As the horns grow, the cows shed the older horn flakes by rubbing the trees.

“It looks like scales, like on a snake, when they come off,” Stanley said.

In captivity, Watusi have a life expectancy of 25 or more years. The youngest of the Russell Lands herd is 3 years old, and the oldest 6, so they’ll be around for the next generation of Lake Martin lovers to learn about and enjoy.

View a video of the cattle at russelllands.com/blog/exotic-cattlenow-home-at-the-stables/.