Short answers, pulled from the story.
Wild aurochs began their transformation into the cattle we know today around 10,500 years ago. This domestication process started in central Anatolia and the Levant near villages like Çayönü Tepesi in southeastern Turkey.
Over 940 million cattle roamed the Earth by 2022 covering vast distances from India to Brazil. India held the largest population at 307.5 million representing 32.6 percent of the global total.
Cattle contribute to around 7 percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions according to FAO estimates. Each cow belches out roughly 100 kilograms of methane gas every year through enteric fermentation.
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy broke out in the United Kingdom during the 1980s killing 178 people by 2010. The disease spreads via prions misfolded brain proteins found in contaminated meat products.
India leads buffalo milk production at 94.4 million tons employing roughly 80 million people globally. European Union countries generated 143 million tons of cow milk in 2023 while India produced 99.5 million tons.