There has been a wave of news about bringing back prehistoric or otherwise extinct animals recently. You’ve probably heard of efforts to bring back the dodo, which went extinct on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, and woolly mammoths, which went extinct on Wrangel Island in Siberia. Meanwhile, scientists hope to bring back prehistoric aurochs to the Isle of Arran in Scotland.
Of course, once an animal goes extinct, there’s no way to bring back the same species entirely. They never return, but scientists hope to get reasonably close. Thus, we absolutely need to protect each species before we have to resort to something like this.
Bringing Back Megafauna Like the Aurochs
While the return of approximations of irreplaceable species may be a fascinating prospect, the revival of the aurochs, much like the returning bison in the United States, serves a significant purpose. The aurochs, with their unique behaviors and grazing habits, played a crucial ecological role. Their actions created microhabitats, fostering the growth of plants and insects and initiating a beneficial ‘green wave.’
Given enough room to roam, small numbers of grazing megafauna are vital players in the interconnected web of life. It’s almost like it was all planned in minute detail isn’t it?
In recent times, researchers hope bringing back grazing megafauna will help address global environmental challenges. Their presence can help improve the soil, increase biodiversity, and even help combat more common wildfires. And with their return, their natural predators return, too.
Video by Rewilding Europe about the Aurochs and broader rewilding efforts:
Aurochs Went Extinct 400 Years Ago
Unlike the buffalo, or bison, which has narrowly avoided total extinction, the aurochs went extinct about 400 years ago in Poland. As with the dodo, it was due to human activities. However, their descendants, the domestic cattle carry their genetic legacy. But compared to today’s cattle, aurochs, or wild oxs, were massive beasts, standing almost six feet tall at the shoulders.
These prehistoric cattle are subjects for cave paintings like Lascaux Cave, where a possibly 16,500-year-old auroch is seen beside dots representing stars, including the Pleiades star cluster within the Taurus constellation.
Recently, researchers have found the dots may be the world’s first example of a lunar calendar and a proto-writing system.
A Disturbing Previous Attempt to Bring Back Aurochs
Efforts to “resurrect” these giants have been a long time coming. Back in the 20s and 30s, things took a dark turn when the Nazis tried to bring them back for egotistical trophy-hunting purposes (see video below). The resulting “Heck cattle,” are not aurochs but an attempt to recreate them through breeding various cattle. The Heck brothers went by what is known about aurochs, such as their depictions in prehistoric caves.
But the versions that are now roaming Europe are different from Heck cattle, which are known to be aggressive.
Video about ‘The First Time We Tried to Resurrect Aurochs’ by Ben G Thomas:
The Aurochs Have a New Name: Tauros
As part of a European rewilding movement, scientists have once more used selective “back-breeding” to try and bring back aurochs. They selected six primitive domestic cattle breeds from Italy, Portugal and Spain. Eventually, they arrived at the closest match so far, one which is not as likely to charge people as Heck cattle. Whew!
These animals are still not exactly aurochs, so they have a new name: tauros. The word comes from the Greek for bull and ‘os’ for the Dutch word for cow. But many people prefer to call them aurochs, nonetheless. Remarkably, these animals have been seen doing what aurochs were said to have done before them: defending cows, calves, and even wild horses from wolf attacks. As wolves attacked in Croatia, the bulls encircled the herd, horns pointed outward like a defensive wall. See more at Discover Wildlife.
Yes, Tauros is also the name of a Pokémon character!
Video by Poké Facts:
Bringing the Aurochs/ Tauros to the UK
In recent years, small herds of tauros have been spreading across Europe and are expected to reach the scenic Isle of Arran in the near future. There, they may take up residence at the stunning Drumadoon Estate.
Interestingly, the estate owner is working with a nature restoration technology company to encourage corporate “high impact nature recovery investment” using a “Tauros Impact Tokens” system. Can corporations work in harmony with nature, or will it really just be in a token way? Let’s hope for a reasonable approximation of the former, at least someday.
Video by Rewilding Europe about the first herd of Tauros released in Spain.
Featured images via YouTube/Rewilding Europeand Wikimedia Commons