Battle of cattle to be the world's shortest

Now, a new claim has surfaced from the owner of “Chotti” that his cow belonging to the “Kasargod dwarf” breed is the shortest living cow.

According to Dr K V Raghunandan, director of Kerala Agricultural University’s Centre for Advanced Studies in Animal Genetics and Breeding, Diana was only 77 cms tall while Lakshmi’s height was 79 cms. Both were part of some 100 cattle in the centre’s Vechur farm. He came to know about the uniqueness of these cows while going through the latest edition of the Guinness Book of World Records which listed the shortest cow as “Swallow” of the United Kingdom. It measured 85 cms from the rear foot to hind and belonged to Martyn and Caroline Ryder of Rishworth.

However, all these records have now been dashed by “Chotti” belonging to K P Suryaprakash of Moyipothu, 40 km from Kozhikode. According to him, Chotti measured 74 cm from the foot to the hump, 3 cms less than Diana’s height.

This has been confirmed by veterinary doctor P K Santhosh as well as the local veterinary surgeon who attends to the cattle. Suryaprakash said he had been milking about 2 litres daily from 6-year-old Chotti since he bought her last April. The good news is that she is also pregnant.

“Though her milk output is not much, Chotti and the Kasargod dwarves are known to be of superior grade and their milk has medicinal value. I noticed that these cows were much sought-after in ashrams. That was why I went for the breed,” he told Deccan Herald.

However, Suryaprakash would rather wait for an even shorter competitor before approaching the Guinness officials for a record.

The internationally renowned Vechur cattle itself was on the brink of extinction when the Kerala Agriculture University revived the breed under a special project. They stand out not only because of their short stature but quality of milk and the first calving possible at 36 months and inter-calving period being 14 months.