Okay, so rewilding.
A herd of beefy, long-horned tauros are to be released into a Highlands rewilding project to replicate the ecological role of the aurochs, an extinct, huge herbivore that is the wild ancestor of cattle.
The tauros have been bred in the Netherlands in recent years to fill the niche vacated by the aurochs, which once shaped landscapes and strengthened wildlife across Europe.
Trees for Life, the rewilding charity, is planning to create the first British herd of up to 15 of the animals on its 4,000-hectare (9,884-acre) Dundreggan estate near Loch Ness, in a scientific research project aimed at enhancing biodiversity, education and ecotourism.
Okaaay. These are not the original animals, so I’m not sure that this is going to be of any great help. It is, in fact, introducing a possibly invasive alien species and who knows how that will pan out.
However…
“Introducing the aurochs-like tauros to the Highlands four centuries after their wild ancestors were driven to extinction will refill a vital but empty ecological niche – allowing us to study how these remarkable wild cattle can be a powerful ally for tackling the nature and climate emergencies,” said Steve Micklewright, the chief executive of Trees for Life.
Um, is this the point at which we mention the inconvenient matter of cow farts? Or doesn’t that matter any more?
Having once been trapped in a highland cottage by a herd of decidedly unfriendly cattle – not the stolid hairy local beasties but imported Iberian bastard cows with an impressive turn of speed – I confess this makes me more than a little uneasy; good luck with that ecotourism!
Howdah pistols for all!
I don’t think that the burps and farts of large herbivores ever were a problem, just desperate nonsense from the climate lobby. Any gasses that they did emit must have been removed from the atmosphere comparatively recently by the growing grass that they consume.
“…a powerful ally for tackling the nature and climate emergencies.”
“Introducing the aurochs-like tauros to the Highlands four centuries after their wild ancestors were driven to extinction will refill a vital but empty ecological niche.”
So vital that the Highlands have managed fine without them for four hundred years?
Even if there were any emergencies, I’m at a loss to know how establishing a new population of wild cattle is supposed to help.
Befuddled and wooly thinking so typical of the environmentalists.
I’m currently being reminded of an earlier discussion about women with big bottoms as the West Indies women’s cricket team are on the telly just now.
Of course. I was merely pointing out the double standard.
Of course. Although, according to a recent post over at Ambush Predator blog, that particular dead horse is still being thrashed.
You have basically two choices:
1) Allow cows to eat grass, fart and produce meat at the end of the process for people to eat
or
2) Allow the grass to die, be eaten by insects, fungi and generally rot producing the exact same amount of methane and Co2 that the cows produce and force humans to eat insects.
It is part of the carbon cycle, which has been going on since plants colonised the land a while ago.
Perhaps they’re so big because they don’t fart – they just keep it in. (Credit for this final phrase goes to Ivor Cutler)
Bad enough to be faced with a beefy pseudo-aurochs at all: the prospect of running into a grumpy bovine with trapped wind doesn’t bear thinking about…..
Pretty typical of Scottish society in recent years. Great at trivial ‘feel good’ schemes like this. Not so good at, say, building essential replacement ferries for the islands or educating children to a decent standard.
Without a predator they will breed until they starve.
They will end up eating the bark of the sacred trees – the ones the beavers have not chewed up. This the “reshaping the landscape” part of the waffle, sorry, diversity pitch.
“Strengthening the wildlife” means that they were eaten by carnivores or the Great Highland Midgie – whenever they stumbled into a bog, could not find any more bark to chew, or just got so depressed by dreich Scottish climate, the memory of the Medieval Warm Period fading, that they lost the will to live. Or even be arsed shagging.
The keepers will end up surreptitiously feeding them bales of hay.
“Without a predator they will breed until they starve”
A solution has been found for that already; see deer stalking. Of course the rewilders are going to be a bit upset when their lovingly counterfeited aurochs end up as stuffed heads on people’s walls, but still, all part of nature’s balance don’t you know.
An excellent idea.
But I thought you’d banned guns in the UK, Barbarus.
This story shows you can get money for any hair-brained scheme if you shoehorn climate into your application.