YORKTON – I will admit I am not exactly sure if this is an agriculture topic or not, but it is most definitely cattle adjacent and interesting.
I stumbled upon a recent Copenhagen Post — amid the usual Facebook detritus of cartoons, the latest Trump foible, and cute pet pics – a few of our guinea pigs admittedly – an announcement that 30 Tauros cattle will be released into Saksfjed Wilderness in Lolland, Denmark.
Why is that of interest?
Well it’s a project that hopes the cattle mimic what Aurochs once did in terms of the land.
Aurochs which existed some 7,000 years ago, were a large breed of cattle known for creating the very habitats that several endangered species depend on.
From the newspaper article posted, “now, a breeding programme backed by the Hempel Foundation, has selectively bred six of the world’s oldest cattle breeds to bring thirty Tauros oxen to life, without the use of genetic manipulation. The oxen, released into the 800-hectare Saksfjed Wilderness in southern Lolland, closely resemble the Aurochs—a species now represented only in museums and cave art—both physically and genetically.
“The Tauros ox is not just a spectacular animal but also an important key to understanding how large herbivores can strengthen the effects of rewilding and promote biodiversity,” says Jens-Christian Svenning, a biology professor at Aarhus University.
By releasing Tauros ox bulls in Saksfjed Wilderness, biologists and conservationists hope to restore the role aurochs played in Danish nature, via promoting biodiversity and balancing the ecosystem.”
So I imagine these animals are going to do much what bison did in North America before man slaughtered the great herds to near extinction.
“Large herbivores can suppress woody growth, change plant communities, and reshape landscapes when they reach sufficient densities, according to an ecological framework,” explained a www.earth.com article on the Danish effort.
“The presence of large herbivores can influence fire patterns, nutrient cycling, and habitat structure in ways that many smaller species cannot match.
“Conservationists call these animals keystone species because their actions support many others. Grazing, trampling, and browsing create bare ground, short grass, and mixed patches that benefit plants, insects, birds, and fungi.”
It is interesting that regenerative agriculture proponent Kevin Elmy custom grazed bison on his farm near Saltcoats before retiring because the big beasts were good for the soil.
To that end a recent tour of some 30 regenerative ag producers from Australia toured farms in Western Canada, among them a Manitoba bison producer.
We have of course made huge strides in terms of ag production through the centuries, but there are still elements Mother Nature may well do better. Too often we have stomped out natural systems in favour of the plow, but maybe we are finally learning we need to work more in concert with natural systems and that may mean turning back the clock on occasion – like the release of the Tauros cattle will be.
