Ulyumdzhi Mandzhiev, Kalmyk Cattle

• Main Authors: Khabunova, Evdokia, Babaev, Andrei, Churyumov, Anton
• Other Authors: Terbish, Baasanjav
• Format: Moving Image (Video)
• Language: Kalmyk
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: cattle; Kalmyk breed; beef; horses; genetic characteristics; Baldwin; Yakutia
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.18282; https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/271301

Ulyumdzhi says that the Kalmyk breed of cattle originates from Mongolia. In the 400 years that the Kalmyks have lived in Russia the Kalmyk breed of cattle has been gradually improved to adapt to the harsh Kalmyk climate and landscape with scarce vegetation and water. It is a strong breed and gains weight quickly in the summer, which helps it survive harsh winters. In terms of character, The Kalmyk breed is aggressive, stubborn and half-wild. Kalmyk cattle protect themselves from wolves with their horns. The meat of the Kalmyk cattle is also famous across Russia for its exquisite taste. This kind of beef is also known as mramornoe myaso (marble meat). Personally, Ulyumdzhi likes calf beef the most. Ulyumzhi also says that the fact that Kalmyk scholars managed to develop the Kalmyk breed into several sub-breeds gives him a great deal of pride. In Kalmykia horses are milked between April and May. During this period a horse can gain up to 2,5 kg in a single day. Like the Kalmyk cattle, the Kalmyk horses are also aggressive and protective of their young. When wolves attack, grown-up horses circle their foals and defend them with their hooves. Valery Bolaev, who is another participant in the interview, talks about the genetic characteristics of the Kalmyk breed of cattle. He relays a story of an American minister who visited the Soviet Union and supposedly said that there was only one thing that he wanted to buy in the country – a Kalmyk bull. The Kalmyk breed of cattle is popular across Russia. People buy it from as far away as Yakutia. Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin.