The Red Brangus is an American breed of hybrid beef cattle, with both taurine and indicine genetic heritage. Development began in Texas in the 1940s.[4]: 752 It is a colour variant of the Brangus, a hybrid of American Angus and Brahman cattle, and differs from it only in colour. There are two herd-books, one international and one American. For international registration the animal must be of 5/8 Angus and 3/8 Brahman descent; in the United States, it may be any mix of the two breeds, but registration is conditional on inspection.[5]: 138
The American Brahman breed of indicine cattle was established in 1924.[5]: 137 In the early 1930s, development of the Brangustaurine-indicine hybrid breed through cross-breeding between American Angus and Brahman stock began in Louisiana.[5]: 138 The idea was to create a hybrid combining some of the meat qualities and polledness of the Angus with some of the resistance to heat and disease of the Brahman.[5]: 138
In the 1940s a Texas rancher named Matthew Levi, who had a grey Brahman bull and a herd of black Angus cows, found that matings yielded both black and red calves. He preferred the red hybrids, and bred from them.[4]: 752 The Red Brangus was recognised as a breed in 1956.[5]: 138
There are two herd-books, one international and one American. For the international association the animal must be of 5/8 Angus and 3/8 Brahman descent; for the other, it may be any mix of the two breeds, but registration is conditional on inspection.[5]: 138
In 2000–2001 the total population in the USA numbered 2647, down from 5205 in 1990.[6]: 40
