The national animal of Andorra is the Bruna d’Andorra cow. Cattle are a very important part of Andorra’s culture, economy, and history, and so they have featured very heavily in the country’s iconography. This is a specific breed of cattle but cattle in general are widely considered to be the national animal.
It’s easy to understand why a country might make something like a lion or an elephant their national animal.
Equally, though, when you have an animal as central to the economy as cattle tend to be, they also make a perfectly fitting national animal.
Let’s find out more.
What is the national animal of Andorra?
The national animal of Andorra is the cow, specifically the breed known as Bruna d’Andorra.
This is a particular Andorran breed of cow that is famed for a few different reasons, but particularly its meat.
It is one of the central pillars of the Andorran economy and plays a vital role in the country’s GDP and exports.
Andorra beef is highly regarded in Europe and the rest of the world and naturally it cannot be gotten anywhere but from the Andorra breed of cow.
This is a protected term, and any beef bearing this name must have come from cows reared in this region.
The high-quality pastures of the mountains are part of what makes their beef so popular.
They feed on high-quality grass and grazing and thus to the greatest extent possible, they live naturally and eat naturally.
This makes their beef very famous and popular. It’s naturally quite expensive to get hold of if you are not already in Andorra.
As a breed of cow, though, physiologically there is not a huge amount of difference between an Andorra cow and other species of cow.
Of course, they are noticeably different enough, genetically speaking, to constitute an actual breed.
But a lot of what makes Andorra beef so desirable comes from how the cows are raised, rather than simple traits of their genetics.
Andorra cows are not particularly favored for their milk and tend to be preferred as meat cows, though of course they are still milked locally.
Exports are a very important part of the Andorran economy, and this is part of what has made Andorra beef so famous.
They tend to have light brown to grey coats and retain small horns on their heads.
They thrive in the hilly valleys of Andorra.
Why is the cow the national animal of Andorra?
There are a few reasons the cow is the national animal of Andorra.
The cow features prominently, at the direct centre, of the country’s national flag, so it is easy to see that they are very important both in the literal, economical sense and in a deeper, more symbolic sense.
As mentioned, the simple fact of the role they play in the country’s economy in terms of exports and indeed domestic produce is a very important aspect of the decision.
Indeed, cattle have been important to the region that we now call Andorra for more or less as far back in history as we can reach.
Evidence of cattle herding in the region goes back millennia, so it is also a very important part of the country’s national heritage.
Beyond this, though, the Andorra cow in particular is a point of pride for the Andorran people.
It is famed worldwide for the quality of its beef and this has made Andorra an important destination as well as an important exporter.
A country’s national animal could be based on something that is found in the wild like a large predator, but it can easily be something more humble and equally important to the country.
What are Andorra cows famous for?
Andorra cows are mostly famed for their high-quality beef.
As mentioned, these cows tend to be raised in the traditional manner, eschewing a lot of the modern, chemical hormones that are used to fatten up cattle in more industrial-scale farms.
They are fed on grass in natural pastures and this gives their beef a more natural and desirable taste.
The beef is of exceptional quality and the cows themselves are very hard and well-known for their ability to endure the sometimes colder conditions in Andorra’s highest elevations.
The rugged mountain conditions are also another famed aspect of the cows.
Do Andorra cows live in the wild?
Andorra cows do not live in the wild but are farmed.
It may be the case that there are feral populations living in Andorra’s wilds, but it is rather unlikely that these would get established without people noticing.
Cattle don’t tend to be as good as, say, goats at establishing feral populations for a few reasons, not least of all the simple fact of their size.
Andorra cows are quite tightly controlled in terms of their populations, then, and farmers would certainly notice and pursue any that had gone missing.
This makes feral populations in the wild very unlikely to get started in the first place, much less endure for very long.
Officially, then, it is really the specific Andorran breed of cattle that are the national animal of Andorra.
But most of the differences between Andorra cows and other breeds are fairly trivial and mostly just relate to things like the taste and texture of their meat or milk.
In any case, cattle of some sort seem to have been in Andorra since time immemorial, and no doubt will continue to be for some time.