The Hungarian Grey (
Hungarian: Magyar Szürke), also known as the Hungarian Grey Steppe,[5]: 334 is a Hungarian
breed of
beef cattle.[4][6]: 96 It belongs to the group of
Podolic cattle[7]: 27 [8]: 49 and is characterised by long lyre-shaped horns and a pale grey coat. It is well adapted to
extensive pasture systems and was formerly raised in very large numbers in the Hungarian
puszta. In the twentieth century it came close to extinction, but numbers have since risen.
History
The origins of the Hungarian Grey are unknown. It was formerly accepted that it had arrived in the ninth century with the Magyars who came from the east,
took the Carpathian Basin and settled there; this theory is not consistent with the archaeological record.[7]: 9 It has also been suggested at various times that it was introduced in some later migration, possibly by
Cumanian or
Pecheneg peoples; that it was brought from the south by refugees from the Balkans;[7]: 10 or that it came from the Italian peninsula, acquired either by raiding in the tenth century, or by trade during the period of
Angevin rule in the fourteenth century.[8]: 50 Another theory, that it descends directly from the
aurochs, Bos primigenius, was attributed by
Charles Darwin, writing in 1868, to
Ludwig Rütimeyer;[9]: 80 [10]: 13 it is not consistent with the
osteometric data, but the possibility remains of some aurochs influence in Mediaeval times.[8]: 50
From the
Middle Ages until the eighteenth century great numbers of grey cattle were raised
extensively on the plains of Hungary. Many were driven on the hoof by
hajduk for hundreds of kilometres westward to the markets of cities in western Europe to be slaughtered for beef.[7]: 11 [11]: 26 The principal destination was
Vienna, but others reached
Augsburg,
Auspitz,
Nürnberg,
Strasbourg and
Venice.[7]: 11 [8]: 50 During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, tens of thousands of cattle were exported in this way each year, and in the seventeenth century the number may have exceeded 100,000 per year.[7]: 11 [12]: 718 The trade was gravely disrupted by the
Ottoman invasions, and for some time was also limited by a monopoly granted by the Imperial court to the Landverleger-Compagnia of Vienna in 1622.[7]: 11 [12]: 718
Hungarian cattle are documented at
Augsburg in a document of 1526. Another sixteenth-century document refers specifically to magnus cornuotes boves Hungaricos or 'long-horned Hungarian cattle'.[13]: 1786
In the eighteenth century changing market conditions led to a substantial decline in this trade, and the cattle came to be used principally as
draught animals, a purpose to which they were well suited.[7]: 12
In 1931 the Hungarian Grey Cattle Breeders' Association was established and encouraged the keeping and breeding of the cattle.[6]: 96 World War II disrupted the efforts.[6]: 96 There were only 160 cows and 6 bulls on three farms in the early 1960s.[6]: 96 Around that time a patriotic interest in preserving local breeds emerged.[6]: 96
By 1975 there were only 300 cows left in two herds, but numbers have since increased. The rebound in numbers is partially due to
cryoconservation efforts put forth by the Hungarian government.[14] Government subsidies are available to breeders of the cattle.[15]: 55 In 2003 the Hungarian Grey supplied approximately 12% of the locally-produced beef consumed in Hungary.[15]: 9
Nowadays Hungarian Grey cattle are kept mainly as tourist attractions in the
Hortobágy National Park and other Hungarian
national parks. Small herds may be found in a few other places, e.g.
Bocfölde, Western
Hungary. These herds serve as
gene banks, due to their reported resistance to cattle diseases which affect more highly bred cattle types.[citation needed]
Characteristics
Hungarian Grey cattle are robust,[11]: 26 slender and tall. Bulls stand about 150 cm at the
withers, and weigh some 800 kg; cows average 135 cm in height and 525 kg in weight.[2]
The coat colour ranges from silvery-white to ash-grey; males are usually darker than cows, with a black
scrotum and eyes ringed with black.[16]: 203 [17] The skin is pigmented and grey.[17] As in other Podolic breeds, the calves are born reddish and become grey at about six months old.[8]: 51 [16]: 203 The horns are long and curved and are directed upwards in a lyre shape;[16]: 203 they may be some 70 to 80 cm in length.[17]
^
abcdefghImre Bodó, István Gera, Gábor Koppány, trans. Béla Borsos (2004).
The Hungarian Grey Cattle Breed. Budapest: Magyar Szürke Szarvasmarhát Tenyésztôk Egyesülete.
^Ludwig Rütimeyer (1866). Über Art und Raçe des zahmen europäischen Rindes (in German). Braunschweig: [publisher unknown]. Cited in: Charles Darwin (1868).
The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, volume I. London: John Murray.
^
abAnikó Gergely, Ruprecht Stempell, Christoph Büschel, Mo Croasdale (2008). Culinaria Hungary. Potsdam, Germany: H.F. Ullmann.
ISBN9783833149962.
OCLC566879902.
^
abcBreed description: Hungarian Grey. Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, School of Veterinary Medicine Hannover. Archived 15 October 2007.
Further reading
Bodó Imre (1994). Magyar szürke szarvasmarha (in Hungarian). Debrecen: Hortobágyi Nemzeti Park Igazgatóság.
Bellon Tibor, Kútvölgyi Mihály (2001). A magyar szürkemarha (in Hungarian). Budapest: Timp.
ISBN9789630077613
Borics Imre (2006). Magyar szürke tenyésztése, tejtermelése és keresztezése Hosszúháton (in Hungarian). Debrecen: Hortobágyi Természetvédelmi és Génmegőrző Kht.; Magyar Szürke Szarvasmarhát Tenyésztők Egyesülete.
ISBN9789630609937
Károlyi Zsuzsanna, Székely Sándor (2010). Magyar szürke szarvasmarha: Folyóiratcikkek és szakkönyvek ajánló bibliográfiája a Magyar Mezőgazdasági Bibliográfia alapjánaz Országos Mezőgazdasági Könyvtár állományából (bibliography, in Hungarian). Budapest: Országos Mezőgazdasági Könyvtár és Dokumentációs Központ.