Sosamma Iype, a celebrated animal conservationist and professor of veterinary science, has been awarded the Padma Shri award in India this year for her pioneering efforts in conserving the native Vechur cow breed. This breed, the smallest of its kind in the world, was facing forcible extinction due to an official policy to promote higher-yielding crossbreeds. 

Iype hails from Niranam village near Vechur in the Kottayam district, from where the Vechur cow breed was found. She shared with her students at the Kerala Agricultural University’s Veterinary College her fond memories of relishing the milk of the now extinct Vechur cows. The cows were typically 90 cm tall and one meter long, requiring very little food and no special care. The milk was known to be high in fat, and the breed was highly tolerant to heat and resistant to most diseases. 

Iype dreamt of locating and conserving the surviving Vechur cows, and twelve of her students took up the challenge to scout Vechur and surrounding villages for surviving cows. After a long search, a surviving original Vechur cow was found at a farm in Ullala. This discovery inspired Iype and her students to further their search, and within six months, 29 cows of the native breed were found and brought to the cowshed of the Veterinary College’s Genetics and Breeding Department. The cows were checked to make sure they were not crossbreeds, and the team also spotted a few Vechur bulls which they used for breeding. 

Today, the Vechur cows have become the icons of India’s native cow conservation movement, with over 6,000 such dwarf cows providing milk and cow dung needs of people across the country. The university also facilitates supply of calves to interested buyers across India. Thanks to Iype’s pioneering efforts, this native breed of cows is now secure and its conservation assured.