India has numerous traditional breeds of very small
zebuine cattle, such as the
Vechur breed of southern
Kerala. These may be collectively known as
nadudana, "small cattle". The Miniature Zebu was established as a breed in the United States in 1991, when a
herd-book was started by the International Miniature Zebu Association, a
breed association. At that time, there were small zebuine cattle in twenty-three American zoos, and others were held by some fifty private owners. The parent stock had originally been imported from Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Sweden. By 2016 more than animals were registered. The Miniature Zebu is not reported by the
United States Department of Agriculture to the
DAD-IS database of the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. It was not included in the list of farm animal genetic resources published in 2007 by that organisation as an annex to its report on ''
The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture''. == Characteristics ==