Pampered with music and poetry, it is a good life for Rwanda’s royal Inyambo cows grazing at the King’s Palace Museum in Nyanza.
With their distinctive long crescent-shaped horns, they have become living symbols of the nation’s cultural heritage.
Descended from the distinctive Ankole cattle of East Africa, they are also found in neighbouring Uganda and Burundi, and can be seen at the homes of some of Rwanda's richest people, including President Paul Kagame.
The Inyambo have long been associated with nobility, raised in royal courts where they symbolised wealth, prestige and power.
“They’re not for milk, they’re not for meat. They were just used as decorations around the palaces,” said museum curator Bigira Junior.
