A young female aurochs has left European Serengeti, the well-known large herbivore reserve near Prague. It headed for west Slovakia, where it will establish a new breeding group on the Slovak side of the White Carpathians.
“It’s the first ever breeding group of aurochs in Slovakia. We’re pleased that we have been able to spread breeding groups of large ungulates to other places in Central Europe,” said Dalibor Dostal, director of the European Wildlife conservationist organisation.
The arrival of the female aurochs from European Serengeti enjoyed great attention in Slovakia, with several TV crews waiting for its release.
“The White Carpathians are an ideal location for large herbivores. Scientists state that it was herds of large ungulates in particular that had helped create the biodiversity and huge abundance of flowering plants in this area in the past, which humans followed up later with their considerate management,” added Dostal.
That is why European Wildlife is currently negotiating with Slovak conservationists about common projects in this area.
Preparations for capturing the female aurochs were complicated. Owing to the fact that bluetongue disease is spreading in Central Europe, it was necessary to vaccinate the female repeatedly against this disease, which prolonged and postponed the preparations for its transport.
The herd of back-bred aurochs, the first group of these animals in Central and Eastern Europe, has been inhabiting the large ungulate reserve in Milovice since 2015. Back then, the animals arrived from the Netherlands, where the local Taurus Foundation is involved in their breeding.