Farmers blamed pollution of Noyyal river, kangayam cattle for the sharp fall in the numbers

This was a beauty contest in which breed, size of udder and length of tail decided the winners. The contestants were hundreds of cattle which descended on Vellakoil in Tirupur for the ‘Kangayam Cattle Beauty Show’ organised by Senaapathy Kangayam Cattle Research Foundation and Kangayam Cattle Breeding Society on Thursday.A panel of five judges made up of veterinarians and experts from among Kangayam breed growers examined the contesting animals and chose the winning ones.

Karthikeya Sivasenapathy, managing trustee of Senaapathy Kangayam Cattle Research foundation, explained the cattle show was organised to prevent the native Kangayam breed from going extinct. “One native breed, Alambady, has already gone extinct and now, unfortunately the Kangayam breed too is on the verge of dying out. This native breed of animal, which was nearly 12 lakh strong in Tamil Nadu in the Nineties, has dwindled to less than two lakh and its population is shrinking rapidly,” he regretted, urging the government to take measures to preserve the breed.

Farmers blamed pollution of Noyyal river, mechanisation of farming, absence of a proper breeding policy for livestock and the extinction of the ‘korangadu’, a traditional grazing ground for kangayam cattle for the sharp fall in the numbers of this exotic breed of cattle.