The last aurochs were from Bulgaria, 18th century (!)

The year 1627 is commonly provided as the extinction date of the aurochs, when the last cow of the Jaktorow population died in Poland. A horn core from Moldavia which dates back to the early 17th century suggests that there was another remnant population in that country at least [1]. In 2020, however, a horn core was found in Sofia which probably dates back to the first half of the 18th century [2]. This is the youngest aurochs material known today and very exciting. It means that the extinction date of 1627 is wrong, and that the less accessible forests of Bulgaria or perhaps the entire northern Balkans provided enough space for a remnant aurochs population that was able to survive until the first half of the 18th century. 

Here is a link to the paper. 

Literature 

[1] Bejenaru et al.: Holocene subfossil records of the auroch (Bos primigenius) in Romania. 2013. 

[2] Boev, Z.: The last Bos primigenius survived in Bulgaria (Cetartiodactyla: Bovidae). 2022.