sutton026

I t has just been announced on the blog of the Auerrind project that a number of cattle from the Tauros Project have been moved to the Auerrind project in Lorsch, Germany. In total, eight animals have been moved to Lorsch:  - 1 young Maremmana bull  - 1 young Pajuna bull + 1 Pajuna cow  - 5 cross cows  Maremmana bull © auerrind.wordpress.com Maremmana bull + Sayaguesa x Watussi cross bull © auerrind.wordpress.com The Maremmana bull is almost two years old and measures 160cm already. It will surely grow some more centimetres and maybe reach 170cm. The body looks rather elegant, but bulls get more massive after the age of 3. The bull is to cover the three Sayaguesa cows next year. For now, it grazes in an own bull herd at Felix Hohmeyer's farm, together with the young Sayaguesa x Watussi bull. It has a flawless aurochs colour but a rather Watussi-like appearance; I am curious how its horn shape is going to develop and how large they are going to be. But even if it is ...

T he Auerrind project has gained a new area for breeding and natural grazing, the reserve Hammer Auen in Groß-Rohrheim, Germany. Two heifers, namely Ambra the Watussi x Maremmana and the Sayaguesa x Grey cattle, have been moved to the area recently and another two individuals are about to follow. Here are some recent photos:  Grey x Sayaguesa right and Watussi x Maremmana left (©Copyright www.auerrind.wordpress.com) Watussi x Maremmana heifer in close-up (© www.auerrind.wordpress.com) The Watussi crossbreeds are among the most interesting to me of the Auerrind project so far. I like the somehow tropical appearance of the fur of Ambra (short, shiny and contrast-rich colour). She seems to have a Watussi-like ribcage but the zebuine hump is only very weakly developed to almost invisible and the horns are probably going to be mighty. The colour is perfect (the distribution of the black pigment is slightly zebuine*, but that is nit-picking; it is very interesting to see that this allele...

T he Tauros Programme has a website since 2015 ( http://taurosprogramme.com ), and recently I had a thorough read through it. I have read it before of course, but it did not present any new information but rather the usual formulas the project is using for press releases. All in all, the website is not completely clear on all aspects, but what I find confusing or perhaps not completely honest is the section on the breeds they are using - which is what I want to comment with this post.  First of all, the list of breeds they are using is misleading. If you open the "breeds" button it shows you the following breeds: Boskarin, Limia, Maltese Ox, Maronesa, Maremmana, Maronesa, Pajuna and Sayaguesa. Highland cattle is not mentioned, which is morphologically far removed from the aurochs, but Maltese cattle are included as if they would be part of the programme in any sort. The profiles for the individual breeds are not always entirely honest either. For example, they attribute Marem...