The name is derived from the word watutsi (Swahili plural of Tutsi); for the Rwandans, as for other East African peoples, this ox is a sacred and respected animal.

It is also sometimes called ankole (after a kingdom in Uganda) or inyambo.

It wears a red to mahogany or even black coat, with varying degrees of white spots.

The dominant color remains red. Morphologically speaking, it resembles the great Zebu varieties, with a hump on its back. But its bow-shaped horns can be gigantic, exceeding 2.5 metres in length (a record among bovids).

The average adult weighs between 500 and 800 kilograms and measures 1.50 metres at the withers.

Gestation lasts 280 days, with a single litter. Despite its wild animal appearance, it is in fact rather docile and very sociable, living in herds.

It is the basis of daily life and beliefs for many African peoples. In fact, it provides a number of products, including milk, blood (the animal is not slaughtered), leather, horns and even dung (an appreciated fuel in a country where forests are scarce) and urine (which serves as a disinfectant).

Owning a herd of these animals was a sign of power and wealth (cattle were given as dowries at weddings).

Because of its practical usefulness as well as its appearance, this animal has a sacred value for several peoples in the region (for whom it would be taboo to kill it), and several conflicts have had (and still have) as their object the possession of the herds.