An enormous black and white steer weighing more than a small car and standing as tall as an NBA superstar is making headlines as Australia's largest cow.
Western Australian man and Lake Preston owner Geoff Pearson reared the seven-foot-tall 1,400kg steer named Knickers on his property and told ABC News because of his size they couldn't sell him for export.
As a result the 194cm (6ft 4in) tall steer was given a second life on the farm.
'He was too big to go into the export plant's chain, we have a high turnover of cattle and he was lucky enough to stay behind,' Mr. Pearson said.
Despite living out his days on the farm and not being sent to market the steer still found a purpose around the farm.
All the other cattle are attracted to Knickers which makes its easier for Mr Pearson to spot the herd while the are out grazing.
'Whenever he wants to get up and start walking there's a trail of hundreds of cattle following him, we all know when Knickers in on the move,' he said.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the world record for the largest bovine is 2267kg while the tallest steer in the record book measures in at just over two metres.
ABC News spoke with Margaret River vet Rupert Mothersole who specialises in dairy cattle.
Mr. Mothersole told the publication there are a number of contributing factors to Knickers' size including the long history of select genetics for breeding.
He also said if a steer was castrated young and allowed to live out its life, its growth plates would continue to stay open for longer resulting in a larger beast like Knickers.
'We're going to find that the growth plates, which cause the bone plates to continue to grow, are going to stay open for much longer and that's going to give you a much more leggy, taller animal,' he said.
The average size of a cow across all breeds is 630kg with the average size rising by 18 per cent in the last two decades.
Western Australian man and Lake Preston owner Geoff Pearson reared the seven-foot-tall 1,400kg steer named Knickers on his property and told ABC News because of his size they couldn't sell him for export.
As a result the 194cm (6ft 4in) tall steer was given a second life on the farm.
'He was too big to go into the export plant's chain, we have a high turnover of cattle and he was lucky enough to stay behind,' Mr. Pearson said.
Despite living out his days on the farm and not being sent to market the steer still found a purpose around the farm.
All the other cattle are attracted to Knickers which makes its easier for Mr Pearson to spot the herd while the are out grazing.
'Whenever he wants to get up and start walking there's a trail of hundreds of cattle following him, we all know when Knickers in on the move,' he said.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the world record for the largest bovine is 2267kg while the tallest steer in the record book measures in at just over two metres.
ABC News spoke with Margaret River vet Rupert Mothersole who specialises in dairy cattle.
Mr. Mothersole told the publication there are a number of contributing factors to Knickers' size including the long history of select genetics for breeding.
He also said if a steer was castrated young and allowed to live out its life, its growth plates would continue to stay open for longer resulting in a larger beast like Knickers.
'We're going to find that the growth plates, which cause the bone plates to continue to grow, are going to stay open for much longer and that's going to give you a much more leggy, taller animal,' he said.
The average size of a cow across all breeds is 630kg with the average size rising by 18 per cent in the last two decades.
Music: "Laser Groove" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Source: ABC, Daily Mail, 7 News, Guinness World Records
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