An adult male of cattle that has not been castrated. Bulls are more muscular and aggressive than cows and often have a hump on the shoulders. Most male cattle are castrated young; the few bulls kept are used for breeding, and they need careful handling.
Quick answers
What is it?Mammal
Carnivore?No, herbivore
Dangerous?Yes
Bulls are more muscular and aggressive than cows.
Domesticated?Yes
Awake when?Daytime
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?Yes
Most male cattle are castrated and slaughtered for beef before they are three.
At a glance
Found inWorldwide
ColoursBlack, Brown, White
SizeHuge
Weight500–1,000 kg (adult bulls)
Legs4
Covered inFur
Lives inherds
Lives for15–20 years
Can swim
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Kept on farms worldwide. Cattle were domesticated from the wild aurochs about 10,500 years ago.
- What it eats
- Grass and clover; given a choice, cattle eat about 70% clover and 30% grass.
Did you know
Colourblind to red: in bullfighting it is the movement of the cape that provokes it.
Like most mammals, cattle are red–green colour blind.
Before 1940, being trampled, crushed or gored by a bull was one of the commonest causes of death in the dairy industry.
Often confused with
- Cow
A bull is the uncastrated adult male; the cow is the female, and a castrated male is a steer or ox.
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