When the Swedish armies arrived in Poland in 1655, they pillaged the kingdom. One of King Sigismund III's most prized possessions was an ornate drinking horn, longer than a grown man's arm, and as thick as an elephant tusk. The horn's true value had nothing to do with the metal wrapped around it. The horn belonged to the last auroch bull, who died in 1621.
The horn is one of the few remaining remnants of the wild cattle that lived in North Africa and Eurasia for more than a quarter of a million years. The aurochs met their end at the hands of humans. By the Middle Ages, their numbers had already fallen. The last cow died in Poland in 1627.
Standing six feet tall and weighing more than 3,000 pounds, with horns more than 4.5 feet from tip to tip, these mighty herbivores were once a sight to behold. They were painted on the walls of caves. They were associated with the god of the Underworld, Cernunnos. The gladiators of the Romans were put against each other.
Scientists have been trying to bring back this keystone species for more than a decade. The aurochs' genes live on in most modern European cattle breeds. Our Neolithic ancestors in Iran and Turkey domesticated aurochs instead of hunting them for food. The Chianina of Tuscany, the Spanish fighting bulls of the Iberian Peninsula, and the Chillingham white cows of northern England all have substantial portions of their genes. The Netherlands has been working to back-breed aurochs. The Auerrind Project has five breeding herds in Germany. Both organizations share stock.
The calves from this year, especially the bulls, have a lot of potential, according to a trained archeologist and leader at the Auerrind Project. We could potentially have a stable population by then if we continue a careful selection.
The third generation of animals in southwestern Germany look a lot like their Neolithic predecessors. The largest bull has horns that measure more than 2,200 pounds and are just shy of six feet. Sayaguesa, Watusi, Hungarian steppe cattle, Maremmana, and Chianina genes are some of the bovines in question.
The Auerrind Project has a lot of data on animals. A clear picture of the size and appearance of Europe is provided by extensive written documentation and illustrations. The Auerrind Project has historical records along with the fully-sequencing DNA of three aurochs. The scientists have a sense of the genetic variations in different regions of aurochs thanks to the data obtained by DNA testing and radiocarbon dating.
We know the animal's genetic makeup and we can compare it to the modern-day cattle's genetic makeup, which can yield some pretty surprising results. The Holstein, also known as the humble dairy cow, shares 95 percent of its genes with an auroch. The distance from the aurochs to the Pajuna cattle from Spain is just 0.12 percent, so there is more than a 98 percent overlap.
Genetics isn't the only factor when it comes to successful back-breeding. A number of heritage cattle breeds still look like aurochs. The Spanish Sayaguesa cattle have the wrong horn size, while the Italian Chianina have shaggy, white coats.
It is possible to get to results in a fast amount of time if you take all the breeds that are supposedly close from a genetic side. The time it takes for a pregnant heifer to gestating is 10 months. It is soon enough to start considering the potential ramifications.
Bringing species back from extinction can be controversial. Most experts believe we are living through a mass extinction. In the last half century, human carelessness robbed us of half the earth's flora and fauna.
The Auerrind Project is not the only organization trying to bring back species. Colossal scored 15 million dollars in initial funding last year to try and bring back wooly mammoths. The Australian Lazarus Project focuses on a species of frog that gives birth through its mouth, while the Passenger Pigeon Project hopes to bring back the birds that were once so plentiful that their migration once blocked out the sun. Scientists have been talking about trying to clone the tiger that died out in 1933 using a set of teeth in the Australian Museum.
Time and financial resources are often used to help charismatic megafauna. They insist that their focus on aurochs isn't simply because they're cool. Back-breeding programs are less risky than cloning mammoths. There is no danger of reawakening ancient pathogens. With no living populations to draw on, teaching herds of clones to survive in the wild is a daunting task.
In ecological terms, aurochs haven't been gone long enough for nature to fill the gaping hole left in their wake. European bison and aurochs played a critical role in the preservation of the environment.
A grazed landscape with large herbivores looks very different from a modern meadow. The Auerrind Project has been closely monitoring the flora and fauna in controlled environments with their bovines. I don't think it's a coincidence that the first site we grazed was the first one to see the beaver again.
The Auerrind Project is part of Rewilding Europe, a nonprofit that has re-introduced animals around the world. European bison, which were once all but wiped out, have increased in numbers to more than 7,000 over the last decade thanks to the foundation. There are more wolves in Europe than in the US, including Iberian wolves in Portugal and Italian grey wolves in the Alps. The European Wildlife Bank relies on large herbivores to restore habitats and bring in other species.
Laurien Holtjer, head of communications at Rewilding Europe, says that they call grazerslandscape engineers because they play a vital role in shaping landscapes and driving natural processes. By disrupting forest growth, these mammals created varied terrain, all the while feeding the ground and distributing seeds with their droppings.
Reintroduction of large animals is not easy. Politicians and farmers resist rewilding. Wolves have drawn a lot of ire, despite the fact that they are a boon to healthy ecosystems. The first European bison to make it into Germany in 250 years was shot dead. The challenge will be convincing humans to live with a breeding population of modern-day aurochs.
If you do it right, it can be possible. The Auerrind Project's breeding population is not meant for domestication, so they are going to great lengths to avoid creating animals that might attack humans. Spanish fighting bulls, which have a striking resemblance to aurochs, aren't in the mix.
The striking, aggressive breed of cattle created in the 1920s by two German zoo directors is absent from the Auerrind Project. Despite the lack of modern-day knowledge of genetics, the Heck brothers claim to have recreated aurochs through back-breeding. The early attempts at creating aurochs were linked to fascist politics of the time. The return of ancient European beasts like aurochs and tarpan, or wild horses, fit with the National Socialist Party's ideological push to recreate an imagined.
The Heck cattle are not like the aurochs. A small number of their descendants can be found in the Netherlands. Dutch and German scientists are quick to distance themselves from the dark period in European history. Back-breeding is an attempt to restore balance to environments devastated by humans.
The project is unique because it is coming from a museum background. We want to explain to the public why large herbivores are important in these environments.
The Auerrind Project is promoting ecotourism. The goal of the project is to show what a Medieval European landscape would have looked like. Some of the ecosystems that were all but lost can be seen on guided cycling tours.
It's not hard to impress people when you have bulls in front of you. The presence of giants evokes a sense of wonder that most of these people have never experienced. They wouldn't expect it from our landscapes anymore. You don't see wild animals anymore. Most of our large animals have been gone for a long time.
Gastro Obscura covers the world’s most wondrous food and drink. Sign up for our email, delivered twice a week.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
