Thousands of people in Bangladesh are defying the nationwide lockdown to see a dwarf cow whose owners claim it to be the world’s smallest. The images of a 51-centimetre-tall cow, Rani, has set off a tourist frenzy after local newspapers and television channels threw the spotlight on the tiny bovine. Despite the nationwide lockdown, people are flocking in rickshaws to a farm in Charigram, 30 kilometres southwest of Dhaka, to see Rani.
"I have never seen anything like this in my life. Never," said Rina Begum, 30, who arrived at Charigram from a neighbouring town.
According to news agency AFP, Rani is 66-centimetres-long and weighs only 26 kilograms. MA Hasan Howlader, manager of Shikor Agro farm, where Rani lives, claims that the cow is shorter than Manikyam, a small bovine from Kerala that currently holds the Guinness World Record for the shortest cow. Howlader has been using a tape measure to show dozens of onlookers to claim the record.
Rani is a Bhutanese cow, prized for its meat in Bangladesh, and other Bhutanese, or bhuttis, on the Shikor Agro farm are twice Rani's size. The owner said that most of the visitors want to take selfies with Rani and more than 15,000 people have come to see Rani in the past three days alone.
{{/usCountry}}Rani is a Bhutanese cow, prized for its meat in Bangladesh, and other Bhutanese, or bhuttis, on the Shikor Agro farm are twice Rani's size. The owner said that most of the visitors want to take selfies with Rani and more than 15,000 people have come to see Rani in the past three days alone.
{{/usCountry}}"Honestly speaking, we are tired," Howlader told AFP.
The shortest cow, Manikyam, is a Vechur – a breed well known for producing dwarf cows with a maximum height of 90cm. Manikyam, owned by Ashkay NV, in Kerala, measured 61.1cm from the hoof to the withers when a team from Guinness World Records travelled to Kerala.
“It is hot and particularly humid here, and we believe this has an effect on the height of our cattle. If Vechur cattle are taken elsewhere in the country, over time they increase in height. It’s only in Kerala that they maintain their dwarf stature,” local veterinarian Dr EM Muhammed had told the Guinness team.