kitwilliams91
Protection
Sometimes in life whilst turning a corner, and on this occasion on the lookout for a animal, a much different and a very unexpected one altogether stands before you (and luckily behind a very strong 5 bar gate!) I managed a few bursts and continued on around the corner that I should have taken!! So…. it set me off when I got home to find out more about what I had seen as I had never heard of them nor had I ever met them: “Heck Cattle!! —- and by heck!! they were certainly big”! So here is the Fascinating history (it was for me - so I hope I don’t bore you!) of the Heck Herd!!
The aurochs is the ancestor of all cattle and thereby a most important animal in the history of mankind. It is also a keystone species for many European ecosystems, but was hunted to its extinction in 1627. They have not been in Britain since the Iron Age more than 2000 years ago. The only real reason why the aurochs disappeared was because man hunted it to extinction. First for meat, but when man later brought in domestic cattle, it was also an intentional extermination because of grazing competition from the aurochs.
However, its DNA is still alive, but distributed among a number of the ancient original cattle breeds. “The Tauros Programme” 2009 aims to bring back the aurochs as a functional wild animal, by back-breeding the closest relatives of the original aurochs. In order to graze the landscapes of Europe to help maintain biodiversity. The final goal of the programme, to be met in some 20 years, is the presence of the Tauros as a self-sufficient wild bovine grazer in herds of at least 150 animals each in several rewilding areas in Europe.
The Heck Cattle were the forerunners of the Tauros Programme initiated in the 1930’s by the German Heck brothers who independently cross bred auroch genetically linked cattle.
There is only one Heck herd in Britain and is owned by the conservationist Derek Gow who initially imported the herd from Europe consisting of 4 bulls and 9 cows. They bred successfully and the herd grew to 20. However, the unpredictable and very aggressive aspect in their genes caused the herd to endanger staff and all but a few cattle tried to kill anyone entering their environment. Therefore culling of the most aggressive and dangerous members of the herd was done. Since then the herd is growing again and although not domesticated is manageable.
(My words - a précis of the sourced material/information found on the internet)
A Youtube link:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=28wUB3kgWoA
Aurochs were immortalised in prehistoric cave paintings and admired for their brute strength and "elephantine" size by Julius Caesar.
Aurochs are also depicted in ochre and charcoal in paintings found on the walls of cave galleries such as those at Lascaux in France Photo: ALAMY
Protection
Sometimes in life whilst turning a corner, and on this occasion on the lookout for a animal, a much different and a very unexpected one altogether stands before you (and luckily behind a very strong 5 bar gate!) I managed a few bursts and continued on around the corner that I should have taken!! So…. it set me off when I got home to find out more about what I had seen as I had never heard of them nor had I ever met them: “Heck Cattle!! —- and by heck!! they were certainly big”! So here is the Fascinating history (it was for me - so I hope I don’t bore you!) of the Heck Herd!!
The aurochs is the ancestor of all cattle and thereby a most important animal in the history of mankind. It is also a keystone species for many European ecosystems, but was hunted to its extinction in 1627. They have not been in Britain since the Iron Age more than 2000 years ago. The only real reason why the aurochs disappeared was because man hunted it to extinction. First for meat, but when man later brought in domestic cattle, it was also an intentional extermination because of grazing competition from the aurochs.
However, its DNA is still alive, but distributed among a number of the ancient original cattle breeds. “The Tauros Programme” 2009 aims to bring back the aurochs as a functional wild animal, by back-breeding the closest relatives of the original aurochs. In order to graze the landscapes of Europe to help maintain biodiversity. The final goal of the programme, to be met in some 20 years, is the presence of the Tauros as a self-sufficient wild bovine grazer in herds of at least 150 animals each in several rewilding areas in Europe.
The Heck Cattle were the forerunners of the Tauros Programme initiated in the 1930’s by the German Heck brothers who independently cross bred auroch genetically linked cattle.
There is only one Heck herd in Britain and is owned by the conservationist Derek Gow who initially imported the herd from Europe consisting of 4 bulls and 9 cows. They bred successfully and the herd grew to 20. However, the unpredictable and very aggressive aspect in their genes caused the herd to endanger staff and all but a few cattle tried to kill anyone entering their environment. Therefore culling of the most aggressive and dangerous members of the herd was done. Since then the herd is growing again and although not domesticated is manageable.
(My words - a précis of the sourced material/information found on the internet)
A Youtube link:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=28wUB3kgWoA
Aurochs were immortalised in prehistoric cave paintings and admired for their brute strength and "elephantine" size by Julius Caesar.
Aurochs are also depicted in ochre and charcoal in paintings found on the walls of cave galleries such as those at Lascaux in France Photo: ALAMY