Sanhe
三河牛
(most common name)

(local/other name):
• Sanho
local/other name (English):
• Three Rivers cattle
• Three-river breed

The Sanhe, a dual-purpose breed, is usually red-and-white, but can also be black-and-white. According to Felius (1995), the Sanhe has been systematically selected and bred since 1945; breeding standards were formulated in 1982.

There are several different views on the origin of the Sanhe:
• Epstein (1969) - developed since 1900 from local cows of Inner Mongolia crossed with imported Siberian and Friesian bulls.
• Cheng (1984, Livestock Breeds of China and 1986, Bovine Breeds of China) - developed from Menggu cows crossed with Simmental and Shorthorn bulls.
• Mason (1988) - developed around 1900 from Mongolian cows crossed with Siberian, Simmental and Friesian bulls.
• Qiu Huai et al. (1993) - developed since 1898 from Mongolian cows in Hulunbiur crossed indiscriminately with imported Simmental, Yaroslavl, Siberian and Huormedanr (?) bulls.
• Mason (Encyclopedia 2016) - developed in Hulunbiur starting around 1912 from Mongolian cows crossed with Simmental, Yaroslavl, and Siberian bulls.
• DAD-IS (2021) - composite of indigenous local cows crossed with Simmental, Yaroslavl and Yakut bulls.

Hulunbuir (Hulun Buir) is a region in northeastern Inner Mongolia, China.

This page was last updated on: 2023-05-20

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