Cattle are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult males are referred to as bulls.

Cattle are quite special; not only are they a familiar sight in the UK countryside, but we have been farming cattle for centuries for milk and meat.  They’re a friendly, largely docile animal that we probably don’t respect as much as we should.  Cattle are very gregarious and even short-term isolation is considered to cause severe psychological stress.  They use all of the five widely recognised sensory modalities.

For instance, they are able to discriminate between familiar individuals, and among humans.  They’re more intelligent than we give them credit for.  Although cattle can discriminate between humans by their faces alone, they also use other cues such as the colour of clothes when these are available.  Additionally, calves can discriminate between humans based on previous experience, as shown by approaching those who handled them positively and avoiding those who handled them aversively.  This is proof that our ethics surrounding positive, reward based handling really works as well as being the kind thing to do. 

Interestingly, in language, cattle can only be used in the plural and not in the singular: it is a plurale tantum. Thus one may refer to three cattle or some cattle, but not one cattle.  One head of cattle is a valid though periphrastic way to refer to one animal of indeterminate or unknown age and sex; otherwise no universally used single-word singular form of cattle exists in modern English, other than the sex and age specific terms such as cow, bull, steer and heifer. 

The weight of adult cattle varies, depending on the breed. British breeds generally mature at 500-900kg.  Bulls are larger than cows of the same breed by up to a few hundred kilograms.  They’re a huge species that is difficult to transport, so please keep this in mind when coordinating call sheets and parking plans!

Cow’s eyes are often used to convey a wide-eyed expression, meant to discreetly signal otherwise unstated romantic attraction to the one it is directed at.  Cattle are typically represented in heraldry by the bull, hinting at patriarchal notions!

In religion, the cow is mentioned often in the Quran and veneration of the cow has become a symbol of the identity of Hindus as a community, especially since the end of the 19th century.  However, cattle are familiar all over the world (albeit different breeds) and so generally transcend geographical boundaries.  This makes filming opportunities rather universal. 

One of the most famous cattle icons is Disney’s Clarabelle The Cow, though bulls and cows have featured in movies for decades.  Home on the Range was another release from Disney featuring cows and of course we’ve seen herds in Western films for decades.  In gaming, cows feature prominently in the insanely popular Animal Crossing.

In photography, cows can often be seen as gentle, evoking thoughts of traditions, countryside and feelings of warmth.  In film and television, we see cattle in a variety of places, but largely as background animals, setting the scene.  However, we’d strongly encourage producers to consider cows for feature roles, primarily because they’re such a lovely animal!

We supply professional animal location handlers around the world to ensure you get all the shots you require and, as overseers to ensure the wild is not disturbed, the crew will always be safe and no welfare regulations are ever breached.

It isn’t just the animals that are well trained, our team including our handlers are also highly experienced and fully qualified experts in the field. 

Your handler will take full control of any animals on set and ensure the entire shoot runs properly. They will also fully manage the welfare of all the animals both on and off set; the safety and welfare of the animals is their prime concern.  All of our handling is strictly force-free and only positive, reward based practices are deployed. This way you can have total confidence that by booking With The Animal Talent everything is taken care of legally, professionally and ethically.

The Performing Animals Licence is no longer relevant (it was scrapped in 2019) and has been replaced with the Animal Activity Licence, which we hold.

Our cows are covered by a £5 million Public Liability Insurance policy. 

Cows require certain licences and transportation logs for travel any distance away from their home.  They also cannot mix with other livestock on site at any time.  An Export Health Certificate is required along with a movement document and in some situations, an Animal Gatherings Order in order to comply with DEFRA and APHA.  Please speak with our agents to discuss which licences are appropriate for your requirements.

If any species of animal listed under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act are required, special measures will need to be put into place for the shoot. Precisely what is appropriate will vary species to species, but may include sectioned off areas where only trained handlers are allowed. In the event of large and dangerous carnivores, a specifically built green screen studio can also be supplied.