The Taurus Project of the German aims to re-create the extinct

aurochs The aurochs (''Bos primigenius'') ( or ) is an extinct cattle species, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of the largest herbivores in the Holocen ...

, the wild ancestor of domestic cattle, by cross-breeding

Heck cattle Heck cattle are a hardy breed of domestic cattle. These cattle are the result of an attempt by Heinz and Lutz Heck to breed back the extinct aurochs (''Bos primigenius'') from modern aurochs-derived cattle in the 1920s and 1930s. Controver ...

(themselves bred in the 1920s and 1930s in an attempt to replicate the aurochs) with aurochs-like cattle, mostly from Southern Europe. Herds of these cross-bred ''Taurus cattle'' have been established in Germany, Denmark, Hungary and Latvia, and are used in conservation of natural landscapes and biodiversity.Marcel Keiffenheim (text), Lin Lambert (pictures)
"Das Ur-Viech."Archived version.
Greenpeace Magazin (Germany) 5.03. Margret Bunzel-Drüke
"Projekt Taurus – En økologisk erstatning for uroksen."Archived version.
Translated into Danish by Karsten Thomsen. Lohne: ABU 2004; Århus: Nepenthes, 2005.

History

In 1996 the conservation group in Germany started to crossbreed Heck cattle with primitive cattle from Southern Europe such as

Chianina The Chianina () is an Italian breed of large white cattle. It was formerly principally a draught breed; it is now raised mainly for beef. It is the largest and one of the oldest cattle breeds in the world. The ''bistecca alla fiorentina'' is ...

Sayaguesa Cattle The Sayaguesa is an endangered Spanish breed of domestic cattle. It is named for the comarca of Sayago in the province of Zamora, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile and León, and is raised almost exclusively in that ...

and the

Spanish fighting bull The Spanish Fighting Bull (Toro Bravo, ''toro de lidia'', ''toro lidiado'', ''ganado bravo'', ''Touro de Lide'') is an Iberian Peninsula, Iberian heterogeneous cattle population. It is exclusively bred free-range on extensive estates in Spain, Po ...

in the Lippeaue reserve near the town of Soest. The purpose was and is an increased resemblance to the extinct aurochs, because they considered Heck cattle not satisfying. For example, they write in one of their publications: "''The 'recreations' by the Heck brothers are too small, too short-legged, not elegant and their horns are not satisfying''".ABU info 06/07: Bunzel-Drüke, Scharf & Vierhaus
"Lydias Ende – eine Tragikomödie."
ABU info 30/31 (2006/07), pp. 58–67. Therefore, the goal is to breed cattle that are considerably larger, more long-legged and long-snouted and have horns curving forwards, in addition to possessing the wild type colour scheme that was already present in the population. In 2003 breeding herds were started in Hungary and Denmark, and in 2004 one was begun in Latvia.

Germany

In Germany, Taurus cattle herds are crossed with Chianina and Sayaguesa, two very tall breeds, and initially also the Spanish fighting bull (Toro de Lidia). The crossbred animals in the Lippeaue reserve, the most important breeding location, are composed of 47% Sayaguesa, 29% Heck cattle, 20% Chianina and 4% Lidia on average. By 2013, some individuals were of the fifth cross generation already. Taurus cattle are listed in the herdbook X of the German Heck cattle association VFA. There is an increasing interest of Heck cattle breeders in using Taurus cattle because of their larger resemblance to the aurochs, so that there is a continuum between Taurus cattle and un-crossed Heck cattle.Bunzel-Drüke, Finck, Kämmer, Luick, Reisinger, Riecken, Riedl, Scharf & Zimball: ''Wilde Weiden: Praxisleitfaden für Ganzjahresbeweidung in Naturschutz und Landschaftsentwicklung.'' ABU 2008.

Hungary

Hortobágy National Park in Hungary has the largest herd of Taurus cattle so far, counting 500–600 individuals of which around 200 are mature cows.“Breeding of the reconstructed aurochs,”
''Hortobágyi Nemzeti Park'', 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2016. In addition to crossbred cattle that were imported from Germany,

Ankole-Watusi The Ankole-Watusi is a modern American breed of domestic cattle. It derives from the Ankole group of Sanga cattle breeds of east and central Africa. It is characterized by very large horns. History The Ankole-Watusi derives from cattle ...

Hungarian Grey cattle The Hungarian Grey ( hu, Magyar Szürke, italic=no), also known as the Hungarian Grey Steppe, is a Hungarian breed of beef cattle. It belongs to the group of Podolic cattle and is characterised by long lyre-shaped horns and a pale grey coat. I ...

crosses and one half-

Holstein Friesian Holstein Friesians (often shortened to Holsteins in North America, while the term Friesians is often used in the UK and Ireland) are a breed of dairy cattle that originated in the Dutch provinces of North Holland and Friesland, and Schleswig-Hols ...

cow are used.Walter Frisch: ''Der Auerochs – Das europäische Rind.'' 2010, . There are two sub-herds, a main herd at Pentezug and another one at Karácsonyfok.Waltraut Zimmermann, Lydia Kolter, Istvan Sandor
″Naturschutzprojekt Hortobagy – Jahresbericht 2003.″
Zeitschrift des Kölner Zoo 2004. Studies in the national park showed that cattle are less adapted to dry, cold grassland than Przewalski horses, and until a few years ago the cattle were supplementary fed.Julia Poettinger
''Vergleichende Studie zur Haltung und zum Verhalten des Wisents und des Heckrinds.''
2011. The winter of 2011 was the first winter in which additional food was not necessary.Waltraut Zimmermann, Lydia Kolter, Istvan Sandor
″Naturschutzprojekt Hortobagy – Jahresbericht 2011.″
Zeitschrift des Kölner Zoo 2012.

Denmark

Taurus breeding was initiated in Lille Vildmose Nature Reserve under the name Projekt Urokse ("Project Aurochs"). The founding herd consisted of one Chianina × Heck bull, four Heck cows and one Sayaguesa × Heck cow, and in 2009 three Sayaguesa bulls were added. As of 2010, the herd had grown to a size of 56 individuals.Uffe Gjøl Sørensen:
Vildokserne ved Lille Vildmose 2003–2010. Status rapport med anbefalinger til projektets forvaltning.
'
Archived version.
København: UG Sørensen Consult, 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2013.

Latvia

In Latvia, Taurus cattle are being bred by WWF Latvia. In February 2004, besides two German animals 21 head of Dutch Heck cattle were brought to

Pape Nature Reserve Pape Nature Reserve is a Nature Reserve in Latvia about 15 km south of Liepaja. It stretches over 5700 ha and consists mainly of bogs, carr forests and dunes around Lake Pape. It is an important site for migrating birds. Every autumn abo ...

, in October another 18 head of Dutch Heck cattle followed.Ierodas 24 jauni dzīvnieki - savvaļas zirgi un tauri.
www.tvnet.lv, 14 October 2004. Retrieved 24 May 2014.

External features of Taurus cattle

Most Taurus cattle are long-legged and comparatively slender. An increase in size was achieved, large Taurus bulls measure 165 cm at the withers while normal Heck bulls measure only 140 cm. Particularly the Sayaguesa-influenced animals are long-snouted. Most bulls are black with a light dorsal stripe, some bulls have a light colour saddle. Cows are on average, but not always, a lighter colour than the bulls, most of them are coloured reddish brown or dark brown. Some cows are as of yet still greyish or beige due to Chianina influence. The horns of most Taurus cattle face forwards and also more inwards compared to un-crossed Heck cattle, but the exact curvature of the horns is variable to a certain degree. The skull is longer and more straight-profiled than that of Heck cattle. Usually, Taurus cattle have a more athletic body than Heck cattle do, and their shoulder region ("hump") is more developed.

Gallery

;Lippeaue (Germany) Taurus cattle Lippeaue.JPG, "Londo" (centre): 50% Sayaguesa, 25% Heck, 25% Chianina; son of Lamarck Taurus cattle Lippeaue7.JPG, "Larissa": Chianina × (Sayaguesa × (Heck × Chianina)) Taurus cattle Lippeaue6.JPG Taurus cattle Lippeaue9.JPG Taurus cattle Lippeaue4.JPG Taurus bull Latino.jpg, "Latino": 50% Sayaguesa, 25% Fighting cattle, 25% Heck Taurus cattle Lippeaue10.JPG, "Larwin" (centre): 50% Sayaguesa, 37,5% Heck, 12,5% Chianina; cow at right: Heck × Sayaguesa Taurus cattle Lippeaue8.JPG

References

External links

{{Commons category, Taurus cattle * Margret Bunzel-Drüke, Edgar Reisinger
''Taurus cattle. A stand-in for the aurochs.''Archived version.
2010. Pdf of ppt. Retrieved 24 May 2014. Cattle breeding Ecological experiments 1996 establishments in Germany Rewilding