Cows – Nine out of every ten glasses of milk consumed by people come from cows.
Water Buffalo – Water buffalo produce half of the milk consumed in India. Ghee, a kind of liquid butter, is made from water buffalo milk.
Goat – Some people find goat’s milk easier to digest than cow’s milk. The fat globules in goat’s milk are smaller than in cow’s milk.
Reindeer – The fat content of reindeer milk is 22%, six times as much as cow’s milk. It is the only source of milk for Laplanders in northern Scandinavia, because no other dairy animal can survive in such a cold, hostile environment. It takes two people to milk a reindeer – one to do the milking and the other to hold the reindeer’s horns.
Horse – Over 700 years ago, Mongolian warriors made a dried-out concentrated paste from horse milk. When they were on the march, they added it to water and drank it. In southeastern Russia, people use horse milk to make a slightly alcoholic drink called kumiss.
Sheep – Milk from sheep has twice the fat content of cow’s milk. Sheep milk is used to make French Roquefort and chevre cheeses.
Camel – In the hot desert, camel milk lasts longer than other types of milk. It can last for seven days at 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius), and will last for three months when properly refrigerated.
Yak – In the cold mountains of Tibet, people make yak butter tea. It tastes like a salty, creamy soup that has been whipped to a froth.
Content of Milk by Species
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother’s antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many diseases in the baby. It also contains many other nutrients.
As an agricultural product, milk is extracted from mammals during or soon after pregnancy and used as food for humans. Worldwide, dairy farms produced about 730 million tonnes of milk(2011). India is the world’s largest producer and consumer of milk, yet neither exports nor imports milk. New Zealand, the European Union’s 28 member states, Australia, and the United States are the world’s largest exporters of milk and milk products. China and Russia are the world’s largest importers of milk and milk products.
Throughout the world, there are more than 6 billion consumers of milk and milk products. Over 750 million people live within dairy farming households. Milk is a key contributor to improving nutrition and food security, particularly in developing countries. Improvements in livestock and dairy technology offer significant promise in reducing poverty and malnutrition in the world
The females of all mammal species can by definition produce milk, but cow milk dominates commercial production. 85% of all milk worldwide was produced from cows. Other animals include buffalo, goat, sheep, camel, donkey, horse, reindeer, yak also used for milk consumption. The first four respectively produced about 11%, 2%, 1.4% and 0.2% of all milk worldwide (2011).
However Consumption of milk is debated as a dangerous practice. We try to come back with solid info on that soon.
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Courtesy: Wikipedia, Havemilk, milk.procon.org
