The Lippeaue Taurus cattle population, which represents the top-level of quality for Taurus cattle breeding or perhaps aurochs-like cattle in general, now has a new and extensive web presence on the website of the ABU.
I covered the Lippeaue herd in a lot of articles on this blog already, as I visited it in 2013, 2015 and 2017, and used it as a case-study for many aspects of breeding aurochs-like cattle.
Now you can also use the website of the ABU to get some information and photos about the herd. It introduces the founding breeds, the results of 29 years of breeding and a selection of important individuals of the herd, with lots of photos.
Awesome! They have done great work and I am excited to see it continue. I love the profiles they have on individualwrite ups. Do you know if they are considering bringing in any Maronessa to help with horn shape?
ReplyDeleteDo you have any planned trips to see them or any of the other back breeding projects? I always live your photos and write-ups.
Considering they have the cow Dona-Urraca with her inwards-facing horns which left a great mark in the population, they might not need Maronesa (which would decrease size and snout length again) for inwards-facing horns; see the results: https://scontent-atl3-1.cdninstagram.com/vp/45e32f18bd2b1163af8893b1e716a787/5D7DC340/t51.2885-15/e35/45566357_289594181665616_2263252197297919105_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-atl3-1.cdninstagram.com
DeleteI would like to visit the Auerrind project some day. I would also like to visit the TaurOs herds in the Netherlands, but the people of the TaurOs project do not communicate with me, unfortunately.
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Deletehttps://scontent-atl3-1.cdninstagram.com/vp/45e32f18bd2b1163af8893b1e716a787/5D7DC340/t51.2885-15/e35/45566357_289594181665616_2263252197297919105_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-atl3-1.cdninstagram.com
DeleteNice cow. A bit more hump and it would look like good.
It´s a pity that TaurOs people don´t say nothing to you. They should be more communicative in general. They set an international programme which clearly aims the public with all their propaganda and now this... That´s back pedalling and being counterproductive...
Some few good combinations could work well in my opinion;
DeleteGood and large Maronesa X large and wild colored Maltese X some good and large Taurus (Lippeaue).
Good, (relatively) large and wild colored Corrientes/Lidia X Maltese X Lippeaue
Watussi influenced Taurus X (relatively) large horns, (relatively) light colored Sayaguesa X Maronesa
Large, with (relatively) large horns Pajuna X Watussi influenced taurus X Maltese
Large, (relatively) long muzzle Barrosã with very large inward horns X Watussi influenced Taurus X Maltese
Etc...
Eve if they make a more strict selection only within Taurus herds (like Lippeaue), with time cattle will look more and more aurochs alike, I think.
DeleteAlex, check the «hier lesen» underlined links on the website:http://www.abu-naturschutz.de/naturschutzthemen/zucht-auerochsenaehnlicher-rinder.html
DeleteThank you for publishing the link.
ReplyDeleteIt is a good thing, that the ABU has finally given its Lippeaue Taurus cattle herds a webpresence. Apart from the ABU with its 80-120 cattle, the NABU also has Taurus cattle. It would be interesting to know how many they have and also know more about the quality (auerochslike appearances) of their herd(s)and whether they also select the not so auerochslike looking cattle out. The same is with private breeders who own Taurus cattle. It would be desirable to have many more Taurus cattle of such a high quality as the ones in the Lippeaue. Apart from that, a cooperation between the ABU and the Auerrind Project and/or the Tauros Project would also be desirable. At least the Auerrind Project and the Tauros Project and Rewilding Europe do cooperate with each other.
ReplyDeleteOther breeders do select too, but their criteria are mostly not that strict. There a couple of other Taurus cattle herds for which you can find videos and photos on the web, f.e. Schmidtenhöhe, Cuxhavener Küstenheiden or Steinbruch Gerhausen. Many of those which have good animals, have their good animals from the Lippeaue. The Schmidtenhöhe herd is, as far as I know, not influenced by Lippeaue individuals because they had their own Sayaguesa bull. There is also the Naturpark Solling-Vogler herd, which is a mix herd of Lippeaue animals and Heck cattle.
DeleteHi Daniel, I work for the BBC and am doing some research into 'rewilding' and especially the use of large herbivores to help return our landscape to a natural state, which led me to your blog. I have some questions about cattle breeding-back/rewilding that I was wondering if you might be able to help me with or point me in the right direction, pease? Is there any chance you could drop me an email (billy.clapham@bbc.co.uk) and I can explain more? Thanks very much, I appreciate your help.
ReplyDeleteBest,
Billy
Not sure if I´m opening the right page, but I only see around 10 pictures.
ReplyDeleteOnly one bull seemed more and less ok and only one cow looks good.
Some cattle have long muzzle but very thin and (apparetly)a small skull.