The American Breed is an American
bovid hybrid
A bovid hybrid is a hybrid of two different members of the bovid family.
''Bos'' hybrids
Hybrids between bison and domestic cattle
The American bison and European bison (wisent) have been hybridized with domestic cattle.
European biso ...
of
cattle with a small percentage of
American Bison blood. It was developed in the 1950s by a
New Mexico rancher looking for
beef cattle which could survive on poor
fodder
Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food g ...
in the arid Southwest.
It is one of the few cattle breeds with any known Bison influence, another being the
Beefalo.
Art Jones, the original breeder, began by crossing
Hereford
Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...
,
Shorthorn and
Charolais, and later added extensive crosses with
Brahman and Bison.
All individuals of this rare breed display the
genetic marker for Bison ancestry.
In 2007 its
conservation status was unknown. A
breed society was established in 1976; in 2016 it was inactive.
References
Cattle breeds originating in the United States
Intergeneric hybrids
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