Overview
- Beefalo are a fertile hybrid offspring of domestic cattle, Bos taurus, and the American bison, Bison bison (generally called buffalo in the US). The breed was created to combine the characteristics of both animals with a view towards beef production. Beefalo are primarily cattle in genetics and appearance, with the breed association defining a full beefalo as one with ? (37.5%) bison genetics, while animals with higher percentages of bison genetics are called “bison hybrids”.
- Creating the beefalo has proven to be a serious setback to wild American bison conservation. Most current buffalo herds are genetically polluted or partly crossbred with cattle, and hence are in fact “beefalo”.
