"Breeding-back" aims to restore or immitate extinct animals by selective breeding. This blog provides general information, the facts behind myths and news from various projects.
Tuesday 10 November 2020
Three new videos of Taurus cattle from the Lippeaue
Recently the youtube channel Auerochsen Weidelandschaften has released some new videos. It shows the breeding bull Darth Vader III (which is 1/32 Lidia) with his cows at Disselmersch in the Lippeaue reserve. Here they are:
I think the bull and also the cows are very good. Honestly I believe that the Lippeaue animals already come close to the top level of aurochs-likeness that is achievable with modern domestic cattle.
There seems to be some room for improvement in regards to their horn dimensions and body shape, but that will come with time. On the whole, pretty good.
I totally agree. Little improvement in hornmass (shape is already very good) and humpsize would be greate. And for me the furcolour of the dark cows could be lighter (even in the winterfur). But all in all a very beautiful and well developed herd.
Yes,overall these animals represent the pinnnacle of auerochs backbreeding so far. The average breeding results of all the other backbreeding projects cannot compete with that, at least not at present. (You shouldn´t forget, either, that backbreeding with the Taurus herds has been going on over more than twenty years.) What makes the Taurus cattle so good, is the fact, that no individual of the Taurus herds is in any respect bad. As to the potential for improvement: At least it should be possible with regards to the Horns: The fact that the herd of Walter Frisch had bigger horns than all Taurus animals(Dark Vader included), shows that better horns – both larger and even more auerochs like shape -(longer and thicker) can be achieved without including Spanish fighting cattle in the breeding process. I do not know whether WAlter Frisch used Watussi cattle in his breeding-project, but Watussi cattle would be a way to achieve even larger horns.
A cow from Walter Frisch's herd was included into one of the Lippeaue herds to increase the horn volume about 3 or 4 years ago. So far, there has been one cow born from this combination. Walter Frisch himself did not use Watussi, but many of his individuals were from the Wildgehege Neandertal herd, where a half-Watussi cow had been used in the 1960s.
Good to know. It confirms my assumption that Watussi genes are part of the Genepool of Walter Frisch`s herd. This together with a skilled way of breeding has produced cattle with outstanding horns. So I find it good that the Auerrind project also uses Watussi cattle. Apart from the use of Watussi their whole breeding concept gives the impression of being very thorougly thought through.
I am sceptical, that much more progress regarding the horns (matching those of the original Auerochs in size and shape one to one) can be achieved by the use of just one cow from Walter Frisch`s herd together with selective breeding. However, the inclusion of some more animals from Walter Frisch´s herd (now in Nantesbruch by the way) and/or an exchange with animals from the Auerrind-project could give the whole Taurus herd a real boost as to the horn size and quality. Having said this, I do not want to downplay what the ABU has achieved with their Taurus cattle so far, at all.
There seems to be some room for improvement in regards to their horn dimensions and body shape, but that will come with time. On the whole, pretty good.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI totally agree. Little improvement in hornmass (shape is already very good) and humpsize would be greate. And for me the furcolour of the dark cows could be lighter (even in the winterfur). But all in all a very beautiful and well developed herd.
DeleteDo you know how much does this bull weight? It looks pretty big, but is it aurochs-like size or still less?
ReplyDeleteYes,overall these animals represent the pinnnacle of auerochs backbreeding so far. The average breeding results of all the other backbreeding projects cannot compete with that, at least not at present. (You shouldn´t forget, either, that backbreeding with the Taurus herds has been going on over more than twenty years.)
ReplyDeleteWhat makes the Taurus cattle so good, is the fact, that no individual of the Taurus herds is in any respect bad.
As to the potential for improvement: At least it should be possible with regards to the Horns: The fact that the herd of Walter Frisch had bigger horns than all Taurus animals(Dark Vader included), shows that better horns – both larger and even more auerochs like shape -(longer and thicker) can be achieved without including Spanish fighting cattle in the breeding process. I do not know whether WAlter Frisch used Watussi cattle in his breeding-project, but Watussi cattle would be a way to achieve even larger horns.
A cow from Walter Frisch's herd was included into one of the Lippeaue herds to increase the horn volume about 3 or 4 years ago. So far, there has been one cow born from this combination. Walter Frisch himself did not use Watussi, but many of his individuals were from the Wildgehege Neandertal herd, where a half-Watussi cow had been used in the 1960s.
DeleteGood to know. It confirms my assumption that Watussi genes are part of the Genepool of Walter Frisch`s herd. This together with a skilled way of breeding has produced cattle with outstanding horns. So I find it good that the Auerrind project also uses Watussi cattle. Apart from the use of Watussi their whole breeding concept gives the impression of being very thorougly thought through.
DeleteI am sceptical, that much more progress regarding the horns (matching those of the original Auerochs in size and shape one to one) can be achieved by the use of just one cow from Walter Frisch`s herd together with selective breeding. However, the inclusion of some more animals from Walter Frisch´s herd (now in Nantesbruch by the way) and/or an exchange with animals from the Auerrind-project could give the whole Taurus herd a real boost as to the horn size and quality. Having said this, I do not want to downplay what the ABU has achieved with their Taurus cattle so far, at all.
DeleteWho is the father of Darth vader?
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen the current stock list yet, but if I remember correctly he is half Sayaguesa.
Deletehola ¿queria saber que es del rebaño de Walter Frisch?saludos
ReplyDeleteDo you think I understand you?
DeleteAn interesting crossbreed: cachena x chianina
ReplyDeletehttps://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1487144618138589&id=534817013371359&__tn__=%2As%2As-R