Heck Cattle
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| Details: | |
| Belgium, B | |
| Location | Parc animalier de Bouillon, SW Belgium |
| Species | Cattle |
| Synonyms | Heck Rind |
| Management | extensively managed |
| Morphology | A typical Heck bull should be at least 160cm high and a cow 140 cm, with weight 600 to 900 kg. Heck cattle are twenty to thirty centimeters shorter than the aurochs they were bred to resemble. However, cross-breeding efforts continue to increase the size and weight of the breed |
| History | Heck cattle were developed in the early 20th century by the Heck brothers in Germany in an attempt to breed-back modern cattle to their ancestral form, the aurochs, Bos primigenius primigenius. Heinz Heck working at the Hellabrunn Zoological Gardens in Munich began creating the Heck breed in about 1920. Lutz Heck, director of the Berlin Zoological Gardens, began extensive breeding programs supported by the Nazis during World War II to bring back the aurochs.[2] The reconstructed aurochs fitted into the Nazi propaganda drive to create an idyllic history of the Aryan Nation. Heinz Heck, in Munich, crossed Hungarian Grey Cattle, Scottish Highland, Murnau-Werdenfels, Angeln, German Friesian, Podolic cattle and Corsican breeds. In Berlin, his brother, Lutz Heck crossed Spanish and French fighting cattle with other breeds. The resulting animalsī configurations were largely similar. The Berlin breed was lost in the aftermath of World War II, so modern Heck cattle are descended from the Hellabrunn breed (Munich). At the end of the 20th century, other so-called primitive breeds were crossbred with Heck cattle to come closer to the aim of creating a cattle breed that resembles the extinct aurochs in external appearance. |
| Remarks | not confirmed yet |
| Source of information | |
| Hyperlink | http://www.parcanimalierdebouillon.be |
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| http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.ch |
