Highland cattle

History

The Highland is a traditional breed of western Scotland. There were two distinct types. The Kyloe, reared mainly in the Hebrides or Western Islands, was small and was frequently black. The cattle were so called because of the practice of swimming them across the narrow straits or kyles separating the islands from the mainland. The cattle of the mainland were somewhat larger and very variable in colour; they were often brown or red.

These cattle were important to the Scottish economy of the eighteenth century. At markets such as those of Falkirk or Crieff, many were bought by drovers from England, who moved them south over the Pennines to be fattened for slaughter. In 1723, over 30000 Scottish cattle were sold into England.

A breed society was established in 1884, and in 1885 published the first volume of the herd-book. In this, the two types were recorded without distinction as 'Highland'.

In 2002, the number of registered breeding cows in the United Kingdom was about 2500; by 2012, this had risen to some 6000. In 2021, it was 3161; the conservation status of the breed in the United Kingdom is listed in DAD-IS as endangered/at risk. The number of unregistered cattle is not known.

Although a group of cattle is generally called a herd, a group of Highland cattle is known as a "fold". This is because in winter, the cattle were kept in open stone shelters called folds to protect them from the weather at night.

In 1954, Queen Elizabeth II decided to keep a herd of Highland cattle at Balmoral Castle where they are still kept today.

From the late nineteenth century, stock was exported to various countries, among them Argentina, Australia, Canada, the Falkland Islands, the former Soviet Union, and the United States. Later in the twentieth century, there were exports to various European countries. In 2022, the breed was reported to DAD-IS by twenty-three countries, of which seventeen reported population data. The total population world-wide was reported at just over 40000, with the largest numbers in France and Finland.

Australia

Scottish immigrants brought small numbers of cattle to Australia from the mid-nineteenth century, but by the late 1800s, none remained. Re-establishment of the breed began with an import of two cows and a bull from Scotland in 1954. The stock was later increased, mostly by breeding up using imported semen; some use was also made of embryo transfer. A breed society, the Australian Highland Cattle Society, was formed in 1988.

Canada

Highland cattle were first imported into Canada in the 1880s. The Hon. Donald A. Smith (later Lord Strathcona) and Robert Campbell imported one bull each to Manitoba. There were also Highland cattle in Nova Scotia in the 1880s. However, their numbers were small until the 1920s when large-scale breeding and importing began. In the 1950s cattle were imported from and exported to North America. The Canadian Highland Cattle Society was officially registered in 1964 and currently registers all purebred cattle in Canada. Towards the end of the 1990s, there was a large semen and embryo trade between the UK and Canada. However, that has stopped, largely due to the BSE (mad cow disease) outbreaks in the United Kingdom. Today, Highland cattle are mainly found in eastern Canada. In 2001, the population for Canada and the United States of America combined was estimated at 10000.

Denmark

The Danish Highland Cattle Society was established in 1987 to promote best practices in breeding and the care of Highland cattle and to promote the introduction of the breed into Denmark.

Finland

The Highland Cattle Club of Finland was founded in 1997. Their studbooks show importation of Highland cattle breeding stock to Finland, dating back to 1884. The Finnish club states that in 2016, there were 13000 Highland cattle in Finland.

Sweden

The Swedish Highland Cattle Club was founded in 1976.

Borlänge Municipality in Dalarna maintains a herd of 105 Highland Cattle for conservation grazing. The project began in 1994 when five cattle were purchased to graze restored shoreland meadows at Vassjön, a lake being restored as a wildlife habitat.

United States

The first record of Highland cattle being imported into the United States was in the late 1890s. The American Highland Cattle Association was first organised in 1948 as the American Scotch Highland Breeders Association, and now claims approximately 1100 members.