Switzerland’s Herens Cattle Breed and the Battle for Cow Queen

Photo credit: Hadi, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Some cows may bow to the bull, but here in Switzerland, an entire herd bows to its queen.

In the Valais, the canton just to the southeast of Vaud, where I live, the traditional cow breed, the Herens, has renown for its fighting spirit and the hierarchies inherent in its herds.

And yep, they let ‘em fight. Boy, do they.

The Herens Cow Breed

The Herens cow is a Swiss breed of cattle that has a naturally combative nature due to the herd’s strict hierarchical structure. From calf-hood, the Herens fight.

They even have the stocky, medium builds of sturdy, fighting animals. Unlike most of the cows I’ve seen in Switzerland, with their brown to reddish-brown coats and their white and brown coats, the Herens cow has a deep, dark-chocolate color. Some almost look black.

When the Herens exits its winter stalls for spring pastures, the battles begin to establish their ranks before they head up into the mountains, whether they spend the temperate months of the year at about 2,000 feet of altitude.

The springtime fights establish ranks and the leader of the herd—the cow queen—that will lead them throughout the summer season. But once the queen gets her crown, she must continue to defend it. Throughout the summer season, she fights to maintain her leadership role and her dominance over the herd.

The Swiss Cow Fights

This natural behavior has prompted the Swiss of the Valais region to hold organized cow fights that begin in the spring and throughout the summer season, pitting cows against one another in heats to level them up until they determine the “queen of queens” at the end of the summer. The organized cow fights, from what I can dig up in my research, started in the 1920s.

Though this could sound brutal, several Swiss have assured me that the cows, once in the ring, lock horns without human provocation and push back and forth until one turns tail and walks off. The cows don’t bleed or die or get hurt.

See for yourself:

Cow Fighting: A Popular Swiss Spectator Sport

Sound niche in terms of overall interest?

Nope: The fights attract thousands of spectators.

And though I read this way back when I first heard about the cow fights, I still assumed the majority of the spectators would come from farming backgrounds or would be curious tourists seeking a cultural experience.

But no. Just this spring, on a hike with my fellow members of the Club Alpin Suisse, one of the group said he needed to get back to home base by a certain time because he is a huge fan of the Swiss cow fights and didn’t want to miss them for the day. (Yes, they are televised!)

One of the True Swiss Cultural Experiences

I haven’t attended the cow fights—or watched them on television—though I should probably find a way to experience them for the pure cultural experience of it all.

Maybe I can even get my hiking companion to come along and explain all the happenings if I do.