Green Group discussion

Rewilding projects are trying to recreate the aurochs, an extinct precursor of modern cattle, which covered Eurasia and Africa, and so far have reached the Taurus.

Let's meet the Aurochs.

https://phys.org/news/2024-10-ancient...

"Dr. Mikkel Sinding, co-author and postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, said, "We normally think of the European aurochs as one common form or type, but our analyses suggest there were three distinct aurochs populations alone in Europe—a Western European, an Italian, and a Balkan. There was thus a greater diversity in the wild forms than we had ever imagined."

Intriguingly, climate change also wrote its signature in aurochs' genomes in two ways:

First, European and north Asian genomes separated and diverged at the beginning of the last ice age, around 100,000 years ago, and did not seem to mix until the world warmed up again at its end. And second, genome-estimated population sizes dropped in the glacial period, with a more pronounced hard time endured by European herds.

These lost the most diversity when they retreated to separated refugia in southern parts of the continent before repopulating it again afterwards.

The most pronounced drop in genetic diversity occurs between the period when the aurochs of southwest Asia were domesticated in the north of the Fertile Crescent, just over 10,000 years ago, to give the first cattle. Remarkably, only a handful of maternal lineages (as seen via mitochondrial DNA which is handed down via mothers to their offspring) come through this process into the cattle gene pool.

"Although Caesar exaggerated when he said it was like an elephant, the wild ox must have been a highly dangerous beast and this hints that its first capture and taming must have happened with only a very few animals," said Dan Bradley, Professor in Trinity's School of Genetics and Microbiology, who led the study.

"However, the narrow genetic base of the first cattle was augmented as they first traveled with their herders west, east and south. It is clear that there was early and pervasive mating with wild aurochs bulls, leaving a legacy of the four separate preglacial aurochs ancestries that persists among the domestic cattle of today.""

More information: Daniel Bradley, The genomic natural history of the aurochs, Nature (2024).
www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08...

Journal information: Nature

Provided by Trinity College Dublin

Very interesting article. I read that today there are more animals used by people than wild animals living in the wild. Its sort of an exaggeration but it gets the point across, we have been changing the natural world in many different ways.

"Although Caesar exaggerated when he said it was like an elephant, the wild ox must have been a highly dangerous beast,"

Six feet tall, ten feet long, with horns 4-1/2 feet from tip to tip. Could have seemed like a small elephant. Elephants are physically bigger than the ox, but if you compared them to hippos, which are still around, they can be seen to be extremely deadly to people who get in their way.

https://www.cambrian-news.co.uk/news/...

"“Pied Flycatchers prefer open woodlands, and the Pori Bach cows have done an excellent job at opening up areas of overgrown woods at Ynys-hir.

“Our Pied Flycatcher population is now stable, which is good news considering that it is set against a backdrop of a long-term decline elsewhere.”

Helen’s herd isn’t just doing this in Ynys-hir.
By clearing away dominant vegetation like brambles, rushes or ivy which can take over space and cast shade against the floor, the cows are creating more space and light for rarer plant species.

In Llanymynech on the Shropshire border, her herd is bringing back violets which grow on the edges of bracken - the return of the violets contributing to the return of the “very rare” pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly.

By eating ivy which if left can dominate woodlands, the cows make space for lichens which would otherwise be easily strangled by the ivy."

Robert wrote: "Very interesting article. I read that today there are more animals used by people than wild animals living in the wild. Its sort of an exaggeration but it gets the point across, we have been changi..."

Humans and their livestock comprise 98% of vertebrate animals on Earth. Humans are the most populous creature. Second are rats, third mice.

Knepp Estate has been the home for a rewilding experiment. The additional benefit has been to expand natural territory for the Purple Emperor butterfly, which is now a firm fixture.

His Imperial Majesty: A Natural History of the Purple Emperor by Matthew Oates

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rewild...

"For the very first time in Denmark, 30 Tauros – the modern-day descendants of the extinct aurochs – have been released into the wild. The release took place in Saksfjed Vildmark on the island of Lolland, a hashtag#rewilding area managed by the Hempel Foundation and proud member of the hashtag#EuropeanRewildingNetwork.

Once widespread across Europe, the aurochs was a keystone species, shaping landscapes and supporting biodiversity. Hunted to extinction in 1627, its DNA survived in several ancient cattle breeds. Through the Tauros Programme – coordinated by Grazelands Rewilding (former Stichting Taurus) in partnership with Rewilding Europe's 𝙉𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙯𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙁𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮, these breeds are being carefully combined to create a functional, wild-living bovine once again.

By grazing, trampling, and creating natural disturbances, the Tauros will help shape the landscape and open up habitats for plants 🌱, insects 🐞, birds 🦅, and fungi 🍄. Their ecological impact will be monitored through a programme led by Aarhus University.

🌱 Saksfjed Vildmark joins sites in Croatia, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands where Tauros are already helping restore natural processes, and more are coming!"