Aurochs, a long-extinct ancestor of all cattle, has returned to Europe — kind of. The ancient species has been resurrecting via a process called "back-breeding," Discover Wildlife reported, in which six different still-existing types of cattle were bred together to form the closest possible approximation to the aurochs.
The resulting species is being called tauros (though many are simply calling it aurochs), and it has been reintroduced to places such as Croatia, the Iberian Highlands east of Madrid, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands.
The group responsible for this project is called Rewilding Europe. Led by Dutch ecologist Ronald Goderie, the reintroduction of aurochs to the European landscape represents decades of work for the rewilding movement.
Goderie and Co. believe that among the most important and effective ways to restore ecosystems is to bring back large grazing herbivores. "Rewilding Europe and its partners want Tauros to occupy the niche the auroch once filled, keeping Europe's rich mosaic of open landscapes flourishing through natural grazing," the organization's website states.
Tauros may soon come to the United Kingdom as well thanks to the efforts of David Bennett, the owner of the Drumadoon Estate on the Isle of Arran in Scotland.
"We know aurochs were in Scotland, there's evidence of them as far north as Orkney until the early Bronze Age [about 3,000 BC]," Bennett told Discover Wildlife. "We think there's also a possibility they were roaming on Arran alongside the earliest settlers."
Bennett is working with a nature restoration technology company called CreditNature, which solicits corporate investments to help with rewilding projects.
Other recent rewilding efforts have included the reintroductions of beavers to the English countryside, white rhinos to a preserve in South Africa, wolves to Colorado, giant tortoises to the Galápagos Islands, and more. All these reintroductions are expected to have profound positive impacts on the ecosystems to which these animals were once native.
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