The Ponwar cattle are a draught breed of cattle from North India. It is an indigenous cattle breed which is known to be originated at Ponwar in Puranpur Taluk in Pilibhit district of Uttar Pradesh state in India.
The breed is believed to be evolved from a mix of hilly cattle and plain land cattle.
The Ponwar cattle breed is named after the place of it’s origin. It is not widely available through India or the adjoining areas. It is restricted to the small geographic area adjoining Ponwar.
The cattle breed is also known as “Purnea”. Read more information about this cattle breed below.
Ponwar Cattle Characteristics
Ponwar cattle are small sized animals with compact body. They are mainly of black and white in color. They have frequent white markings on the forehead, limbs and dewlap. Both bulls and cows have horns, and their horns are long, upstanding and lyre-shaped.
These animals usually have small and narrow face, big bright eyes and small ears. Their sheath is short and tight, barrel is moderately long, neck is short and powerful and their dewlap is light and thin.
The cows have relatively small hump, but the bulls have well-developed hump. They have relatively long tails and the cows have small and poorly developed udders.
Average body height of the bulls is about 116 cm at wither, and 109 cm for the cows. Info from ansi.okstate.edu and photo from Wikipedia.
Uses
The Ponwar cattle are very strong and hardy animals. It is a draught breed of cattle and mainly used for pulling cart in it’s native area.
Special Notes
Ponwar cattle are known to be very active and are of fiery disposition. They are excellent foragers and do well under free grazing conditions. They tend to grow very slowly, but the bullocks are very good for draft purposes.
The cows are not good milk producers. They move in groups putting their heads down in between each other which is a peculiar behavior that has emerged due to fear from predators. Review full breed profile of this breed in the chart below.
| Breed Name | Ponwar | |
| Other Name | Purnea | |
| Breed Purpose | Draft | |
| Special Notes | Strong, hardy, poor milkers, slow to mature | |
| Breed Size | Small | |
| Bulls | Around 116 cm at wither | |
| Cows | Around 109 cm at wither | |
| Climate Tolerance | All Climates | |
| Coat Color | Mainly white and black | |
| Horned | Yes | |
| Milk Yield | Poor | |
| Rarity | Common | |
| Country/Place of Origin | India |
