He stands five feet nine inches tall from hoof to shoulder, stretches 14 feet from his mouth to tail, and weighs a whopping 3100 pounds. Meet Yuvraj, the Murrah Buffalo from Meerut, Northern India. Yuvraj – which in Hindi translates to “young prince” — is among the most expensive bovines on the planet. Yuvraj is perhaps superseded only by Miss Missy , a white Holstein Cow which was sold for, believe it or not, $1.2 million!
As for Yuvraj, at the recent All India Cattle Show in Meerut, his owner received an offer for Rs. 7 crore (70 Million Indian Rupees) – which roughly translates to $1,138,994, per current exchange rates. This is not far off from the 1.2 million dollar price tag of Miss Missy. This also makes Yuvraj more expensive than most sports cars out there!
The reason for Yuvraj’s astronomical price tag? He was recently crowned the champion at the All India Cattle show by a 10-member judging panel. Unlike Miss Missy though, Yuvraj was not actually sold by his owner Karamvir Singh. In fact, it was the fact that Karamvir refused to sell the buffalo that is making headlines in India rather than the price that was offered to him by a prospective buyer. According to The Times of India , Karamvir Singh is adamant about not selling off his buffalo, as he bought him up and looked after him like his own child. He is also quite happy with the kind of money Yuvraj the buffalo helps him make. According to Karamvir, he easily makes well over Rs. 50 lakh ($81,000) a year from Yuvraj. That’s better than most high paying jobs in the country. Why sell the goose that lays golden eggs?
While Yuvraj does help Karamvir make money, he also spends a lot on the buffalo. The buffalo consumes 20 liters of milk, 5 kg of apples, and 15 kg of very fine quality cattle feed – every day. He also likes to go on a 2.5 mile walk every day.
According to a scientist from a local Agriculture University, another reason for the Buffalo’s immense popularity and value is the fact that Yuvraj represents some of the best of qualities that can be found in Murrah Buffaloes. Yuvraj also generates 3.5 to 5 milliliters of high quality semen every day, which is in high demand. Karamvir, he says, could easily make at least $3400 each day by merely selling the buffaloes’ semen off to breeders.
According to Professor Rajvir Sigh, head of the Animal Husbandry department at Meerut, there were several reasons to crown Yuvraj the buffalo as the ultimate winner.
“He has earned the Best Animal trophy and there’s a reason for that,” he says. “The jury had scrutinized 30 characteristics that include morphological trait, semen quality, genetic history and even the quantity of milk that its mother used to yield. On all parameters, Yuvraj has shown excellence.”
The Murrah breed of Buffaloes is a world famous high-yield buffalo and is native to the northern Indian states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
[Image Via The Times Of India ]