Geophagy of Holstein Hybrid Cattle in the Northern Andes, Venezuela

Abstract

During the course of a Quaternary stratigraphic reconnaissance of the northern Venezuelan Andes, W. C. Mahaney and M. Bezada observed Holstein hybrid cattle consuming reddish-brown soil formed in residual regolith from bedrock outcrops (Figure 1). In all cases, the source sites of the eaten soils were located above 3,000 m a.s.l. in the Venezuelan paramo. While there are a number of such sites, only one was sampled to characterize mineral composition, particle size, and geochemistry, in order to determine whether analysis of soil quality would point to an explanation for the geophagic behavior of these cattle. While turf destruction by cattle in the Andes is documented (Perez, 1993), the actual mining of soil by cattle to offset nutritional/dietary deficiencies or to obtain a pharmaceutical benefit is reported here for the first time.