Yanbian cattle

Yanbian Cattle

Country of origin	China
Distribution	China
Use	Draught
Traits
Weight	Male: 465kg Female: 365kg
Height	Male: 131cm Female: 122cm
Coat	Yellow
Horn status	Horned
Cattle Bos primigenius

The Yanbian is a taurine breed of cattle that originated in northeast China.^[1] They belong to the "yellow" class of Chinese cattle,^[2] and are closely related to the Korean Hanwoo breed, having diverged from a common ancestor in the late 19th/early 20th century.^[3] Unlike the majority of Chinese cattle breeds, Yanbian has had no ancestral breeding with indicine cattle.^[4] They are mainly distributed in northeastern China, in the Jilin, Heilongjiang and Liaoning Provinces.^[3] In 2010, it was estimated there were 210,000 individuals.^[5]

Females are 122 cm tall at the withers, 141 cm in length and weigh 365 kg on average; males are 131 cm tall at the withers, 152 cm in length and weigh 465 kg on average.^[6] Their coat colour is predominantly yellow, and both males and females are horned.^[5]

They are primarily used as draught animals, particularly in rice production.^[6] They are also increasingly being raised for beef,^[3] with a dressing percentage of 40-48%.^[6] However, they have a slow growth rate, so production potential is limited. Yanbians were crossed with Limousins in 1987 to produce the Yan Yellow breed, which has improved beef production qualities.^[2]

References

1. Jin, Xin (2011). "Association of Polymorphisms in the Calpain I Gene with Meat Quality Traits in Yanbian Yellow Cattle of China" (PDF). Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Science.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
2. Shuang, Ji (2014). "Differential Expression of PPARγ, FASN, and ACADM Genes in Various Adipose Tissues and Longissimus dorsi Muscle from Yanbian Yellow Cattle and Yan Yellow Cattle" (PDF). Asian Australasian Journal of Animal Science.
3. Jung-Woo, Choi (2015). "Whole-Genome Resequencing Analysis of Hanwoo and Yanbian Cattle to Identify Genome-Wide SNPs and Signatures of Selection". Molecules and Cells. 38 (5): 466–73. doi:10.14348/molcells.2015.0019. PMC 4443289. PMID 26018558.
4. Xin, Y (2014). "Genetic diversity of Y-short tandem repeats in Chinese native cattle breeds". Genetics and Molecular Research. 13 (4): 9578–87. doi:10.4238/2014.November.14.1. PMID 25501167.
5. Qin, L (2010). "Polymorphism of the prion protein gene (PRNP) in two Chinese indigenous cattle breeds". Molecular Biology Reports. 38 (6): 4197–4204. doi:10.1007/s11033-010-0541-0. PMID 21120616. S2CID 7760593.
6. Zheng, Piliu (1984). Livestock breeds of China (PDF). Rome: Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. pp. 38, 40–41. ISBN 92-5-102185-6.