Highland Cattle

The Highland cattle breed originated in the Scottish Highlands and Western Isles. This harsh, rugged environment shaped the breed as we know it today.

The Highland cattle breed has lived for centuries in the rugged and remote Scottish Highlands. The extremely harsh conditions created a process of natural selection, where only the fittest and most adaptable animals survived to carry on the Scottish Highland breed we know today.

Most recognized for their long, shaggy hair, Highland cattle have a double coat—the outer layer is long and oily, with the inner layer being a soft, downy undercoat. This allows them to endure low temperatures. In the winter, they dig through snow layers with their horns to get to the vegetation underneath. In the summer months, they shed their hair to tolerate higher temperatures. Highland cattle can be red, black, brown, yellow, white, and grey in color.

They live in a hierarchy where older animals dominate young and males dominate females. They spend eight hours of their day grazing.

They are known for being extremely protective of their young.

Meet the Scottish Highlander gang at African Safari Wildlife Park:

• Agnus (female, blonde) – born in 2012
  • Daughter: Pearl (female, orange) – born 8/18/2019
    • Pearl’s Daughter: Name coming soon! (orange) – Born 8/27/2021!
  • Daughter: Pfeffernusse (Female, orange)- born 7/10/2020
• Gus Gus (Male, rusty/dark orange) – born in 2013
  • Son: Gus Gus Gus  (Male, orange)- born 4/5/2017
  • Daughter: Ruby (Female, orange) – born 8/8/2019
    • Ruby’s Son: Topaz (Male, orange) – Born 6/25/2021!

Diet: Foraging cattle, they will eat plants that other cattle would normally avoid. They are grazers and will feed on grasses and shrub-like plants.