According to the
North American Limousin Foundation, the Limousin
breed of
cattle can be traced back perhaps 20,000 years, with some of the
primitive drawings in the
caves of
Lascaux depicting the
blonde-
red cows.
During the following centuries, the Limousin was used as both a work and beef animal in the southern part of France for which it is named. American interest in the breed developed recently, with the success of breeds like the Charolais leading North American ranchers to investigate many traditionally European breeds.
Limousin are very muscular, and provide an ample amount of relatively lean beef. Despite the foot-and-mouth epidemic, about one million of the breed exist in North America. Frequently, to avoid spreading potential disease, ranchers import Limousin bull semen and impregnate Limousin heifers already in America.
This node is part of Tem42's list of cattle breeds, entitled, simply, cattle.