The Tauros Project – returning a keystone species
Aurochs are the original wild cattle of Europe, and were last seen in the wild 400 years ago in a Polish forest in 1625. Aurochs were lost from Scotland’s landscapes about 2,300 years ago due to hunting and habitat loss. The auroch is the ancestor of every breed of domestic cattle, and as a large, keystone species, aurochs benefit biodiversity.
A modern version of the auroch – known as tauros – has been ‘back-bred’ from ancient breeds of cattle. The result is an animal that is physically and genetically very similar to the original auroch.
We plan to release a herd of tauros at Dundreggan, and will monitor their behaviour and the impact they have on the landscape. In other parts of Europe, the natural grazing of tauros has been shown to benefit invertebrates and birds as well as encourage the germination of plants. We want to find out what ecological benefits these animals could bring to the Scottish Highlands.
Tauros are now living semi-wild in rewilding projects from Denmark to Spain and Croatia, but they were originally bred in the Netherlands. If we are to establish a herd in Scotland, the tauros herd will need to be sourced from the Netherlands. Unfortunately, bluetongue, a viral disease transmitted by midges that can seriously affect cattle and sheep, has become prevalent in the Netherlands. With welfare and biosecurity as a top priority, quarantining and vaccinating tauros is essential to ensure they are not carriers of the disease and can safely be brought to Scotland.
We are working with Grazelands Rewilding, the Dutch NGO that has bred the tauros, to consider the practicalities of bringing the animals to Scotland. We are also currently undertaking baseline plant and animal surveys at Dundreggan of the area in which they will be released, so that we can monitor their impact over time. Many other landowners have expressed an interest in having their own herds of tauros and we want to be able to give the best advice and support that we can by learning from our experience of managing them and our knowledge of their biodiversity benefits. All this takes time, as does raising the funds.
If everything goes to plan, we hope that the first tauros will be at Dundreggan by spring 2027. This will be the first time in over 2,000 years that an animal like the original auroch will live an almost fully natural life in Scotland.
The Tauros Project is part of our Missing Species Programme. You can support this vital work through our latest appeal here.
Development funding for the Tauros project was kindly provided by Rewilding Britain, the Fred Foundation and the Forest Peace Foundation.
