January
02
/ 2017
A group of scientists is attempting to re-wild 1 million hectares (2.47 million acres) of European lands, and one of the keys in the circle of life will be reintroducing the fierce, huge, wild aurochs, an ancestor of modern cattle that went extinct centuries ago. How can they reintroduce an extinct animal?, you may ask. Scientists in the Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Romania and Croatia are back-breeding specimens of the animal from modern cattle that retain the most genes of the extinct beast. So far scientists in those countries have bred about 500 animals. Aurochs are ancestors of modern cattle but stood taller at 7 feet (2.13 meters) at the shoulder as compared to 5 feet of modern cattle. They
