Shortest cow celebrates record

By Ashraf Padanna/Thiruvananthapuram

Last week, a five-member team of its officials from London arrived in her village in Kerala to verify claims of her keepers.

“Now we have measured the cow from the foot to the shoulder. And she has broken the existing record,” said Michael Whitty, the picture editor at the Guinness World Records, who was part of the team.

The shortest cow to enter the Guinness so far is nine-year-old miniature Zebu cow Blaze, who measures 69.07cm from the hoof to the withers, as verified in US-based Sanford on July 7, 2013.

Owned by farmer and conservationist N V Balakrishnan, Manikyam measures only 61.5 cm.

“This means that overall, she’s the shortest cow in the world, to be known to everybody officially,” said Whitty. “We came here to confirm the honour and take her photographs”.

The photograph of the Vechur cow, a breed of dwarf cattle found in Kerala, will replace Blaze in the next edition of the book of world records.

The team concluded their photoshoot Sunday.

Balakrishnan has 40 indigenous cows of 12 different endangered species in his 10-acre farm in the northern Kerala village of Atholi. He collected them from different parts of India.

But Manikyam has been a star attraction of his farm, being the shortest.

Balakrishnan said people from neighbouring villages started visiting his holistic “zero-budget” farm to take photographs with her since the news spread.

Ajay Kumar, the 2f6in comedy star who entered the Guinness Book five years back as the shortest, also came to garland Manikyam along with the local legislator and officials.

She was earlier measured with a wicket metre at the Centre for Animal Adaptation to Environment and Climate Change Studies of the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Science University, which has launched program to save the animal from extinction.

Vechur cows give him an average of 2l of milk during the prime time of feeding calves. However, it fetches almost four-times the price of ordinary milk available in the market for its nutritious values.

The milk is much in demand for preparation of medicines in the Indian traditional system of Ayurveda.

Balakrishnan’s collections include the Kasaragod dwarf breed, Cheruvally cattle, Ponwar cow, Kangeyam cow, Krishnavali, Vadakara dwarf, Malnad Gidda, Gir cow, Jawari cow, Khilari cow and the Punganur cow.

The maximum height of a Vechur cow is 91cm and it weighs on an average of 107kg. It has low feed requirements and is highly disease resistant and adapted to Kerala’s humid climate.

The male animal with a strong body measuring a maximum height at hump level of 105cm were once very popular for ploughing paddy fields, before the government launched its cross-breeding program to raise milk production five decades back.

“It’s a passion for me. I am doing it as part of my efforts to conserve the rare breeds of dwarf cows,” Balakrishnan said. “They grow in a natural ambiance, feeding on the grass grown in my farm and the surrounding areas”.