Answer:
Heck cattle originated in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s in an attempt to breed back domestic cattle to their ancestral form: the aurochs (Bos primigenius primigenius).[2] In the first years of the Weimar Republic, the brothers Heinz and Lutz Heck independently started their extensive breeding-back programmes.[3]
Their motivation was to rescue the aurochs from oblivion because it was constantly confused with the European bison, the other large bovine of Holocene Europe. The Heck brothers believed that creating a look-alike and showing both species next to each other would help to show the difference between the two species to a broader public. Apart from that, they believed they were able to reconstruct the species and therefore to correct the mistake man made when killing the species off.[4]
Heinz was the director of the Hellabrunn Zoological Gardens in Munich and Lutz of the Berlin Zoological Gardens. Only eleven years after they started their breeding experiments, just as the Weimar Republic was drawing to a close, they each announced success.[5][6]
Lutz Heck used Spanish Fighting Bulls for his breed, some of which were released in the Polish Romincka Forest, but survived until the late 1940s when they were killed during the end of the Second World War.[7] Rewilding Lutz Heck's cattle breed was met with objection since the beginnings of this project, as these cattle were aggressive and their ecological impact on the native fauna was considered to be unpredictable. Later rewilding attempts in Poland were rejected.[8]
Lutz Heck's cattle were exterminated at the end of the Second World war. Heinz Heck used a different set of breeds, all of the living Heck cattle go back to his stock.[1] The ancestral breeds used by Heinz Heck include:
Hungarian Grey Cattle
Highland Cattle
Corsican Cattle
Murnau-Werdenfels Cattle
Angeln cattle
Black-pied lowland cattle
White Park Cattle
Brown Swiss
In 1932 the first bull that Heinz Heck believed to resemble the aurochs was born and named Glachl. He was a 75% Corsican and 25% (Gray cattle × Lowland × Highland × Angeln) cross. This bull and his father were subsequently bred into further breeds to increase weight.[1] As a consequence most modern Heck cattle go back to Central European dairy and beef cattle that were supplemented by cattle from other regions.[9] Advocates of Heck cattle often claim that Heinz′ and Lutz′ breeding results looked largely identically, thus ″proving the success″ of their experiment. However Berlin and Munich Heck cattle did not look very similar.[1]
Distribution
There are about 2000 Heck cattle in Europe and few elsewhere. Heck cattle are found in German zoos because of the erroneous claim by the Heck brothers that these cattle represent resurrected aurochs and are suitable for conservation projects today. In Oostvaardersplassen in Flevoland (Netherlands), about 600 Heck cattle roam freely. Weak animals are shot by hunters in order to prevent unnecessary suffering.[10] Others are at the Falkenthaler Rieselfelder near Berlin, at the Nesseaue nature reserve near Jena, Thuringia and at the Grubenfelder Leonie nature reserve in Auerbach, Bavaria. About 100 were registered in France in 2000. The introduction of Heck cattle into nature reserves in order to restore ancient landscapes inspired Rewilding Europe.[11] The way of no interference in the Oostvaardersplassen, however, was terminated in 2018, as large numbers of cattle died of starvation during the cold winters of 2005 and 2010, which caused a loss of public support.[12]
Criticism