Abstract

The aurochs ( Bos primigenius) is the ancestor of all modern cattle ( Bos taurus) and was one of the most important animals in human history. This mega-ruminant roamed across Europe, Asia, and North Africa for 2 million years, shaping ecosystems. Although it is now extinct, its DNA remains alive and distributed across many ancient, primitive cattle breeds. Many breeders and organizations aim to bring the aurochs back as a functional animal into the wild, where it served as a vital part of the ecosystem for millennia. Therefore, over the past 20 years, scientists have aimed to create a modern equivalent of this long-extinct animal based on DNA analysis of skeletal remains, using the “back-breeding” technique with select cattle breeds whose physical traits, behavior, and genetics closely match those of the original wild aurochs. The goal of this method is to create a physically and genetically similar, self-sufficient grazing cattle species living in herds of at least 150 animals across several European rewilding areas. Ecologists believe its comeback is vital to protecting biodiversity in parts of Europe.

Keywords

cattle, Bos primigenius, genetic analysis, back-breeding, rewildin