Heck Cattle
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| Details: | |
| Netherlands, NL | |
| Location | Oostvaardersplassen, Flevoland near Lelvstad |
| Species | Cattle |
| Synonyms | Heckrind, Taurusrind, Aueroxen |
| Management | feral |
| Population size | Netherlands: about 600, about 3000 Heck Cattle at 76 breeders in Europe ( 100 in France, 13 SW-England) and a few elsewhere |
| 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 animals' 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. |
| Need for Action | Procedures applied to control quality of grassland management are carried out in inappropriate season. In a year-round grazing scheme the areas are well grazed at the end of winter or start of spring, when year-round grazing is used for nature conservation, grazed areas can be (or even aimed to be) a mosaic where meadows are interspersed with bushes or even are wooded meadows. However, these heterogeneous and highly biodiverse types of landscape are not eligible for support under Agri-environmental schemes. For instance, the vegetation can be well-managed Biologically Valuable Grasslands, but it cannot be included in management. |
| Remarks | not confirmed yet |
| Source of information | http://www.taurosproject.com/, wikipedia, |
| Hyperlink | http://www.bskw.de/tier/heckrind.htm |
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Heck Cattle: |
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| http://www.bskw.de/tier/heckrind.htm |
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