The bull looks much like a Pajuna, but the horns do not fit at all. They are much larger and upright than in Pajuna - maybe it's another cross with Maremmana, or a different type of cross. It is hard to guess based on the looks of the animal alone. Here are some cows from Keent. Based on colour and horn shape they might be Sayaguesa x Maremmana crosses, but could also be anything else.
I also found two new videos of the herd at Milovice, Czech Republic. This video shows, additionally to the bull that looks a bit like a Texas longhorn, two new bulls (6:48). I don't know if they are descendants of the cows in the herd or if they have been moved to the herd recently. Based on their looks they might have Pajuna in their genes. The other video shows some atmospheric shots.
Looking at the pictures and videos, horns protruding outwards or having a corkscrew-like shape are very common in TaurOs cattle, additionally to upright Maremmana-like horns. The goal should be horns facing forwards and inwards as in the aurochs. Of the breeds used in the project, Maronesa is the only one that has inwards-facing horns on a regular basis. So the horn shape of TaurOs cattle can be improved by producing a number of good Maronesa crosses with inwards-facing horns and using them as breeding bulls at their numerous breeding sites. Otherwise it might become rather difficult for the project to achieve aurochs-like horn shapes.
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ReplyDeleteI have also noticed that the horn shape of the TaurOs cattle is not as good as with the average Taurus cattle of the ABU in the Lippeau and not satisfying in general.
ReplyDeleteIt is certainly true, that using suitable Maronesa breeding bulls could solve the problem, but it is not the only way how this problem could be fixed.
In the Lippeau they produced a number of animals with good inward-facing horns by using Sayaguesa with inward-facing horns (for example Churro as a breeding bull and Dona-Urraca).
But apart from using breeding bulls with forward and inward facing horns, they also should select out the cattle with bad horns (strongly outward-facing and cork-screw like ones). I`ve got the book born to be wild by Ronald Goderie, in this book he and his coauthors write that 2018 till 2025 is a phase with strong selection.
So I ask myself are the people of Stichting Taurus behind the timetable or did they change their mind about their breeding plan, concept?
The problem is, if they were to select out all the individuals with un-suited horns they might have to get rid of almost all their individuals. 99% of the Tauros cattle I have seen so far are far removed from having inwards-facing horns, except for two Maronesa bulls, one Pajuna cow and one putative crossbreed.
DeleteSayaguesa can have inwards-facing horns, but the individuals in the TaurOs project don't really have inwards facing horns.
don't forget highland cattle although i think they selected the highland cattle they use poorly, they could have selected better highlands with better horns. that would already make the project a lot easier if they would have had another quantity breed with good horns which highlands to potentially have
DeleteUsing a couple of animals from the wörth-lineage of the Heck cattle would also be a good idea, I remember their excellent horns shown in the pictures in one of your past posts of the last years.
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