First auroch calf born! (06.05.2010)

Mutter und Kalb

The first back­bred aurochs (Heck cat­tle) have hard­ly made their home in the Unteres Oder­tal Inter­na­tion­al Park when they give birth to the first calves. Young bull “Odoak­er” saw the light of day on April 29, 2010 in the Low­er Oder Val­ley, as it should be for these exten­sive cat­tle, at night and alone on the pas­ture, with­out a vet­eri­nar­i­an, med­ica­tion or sim­i­lar sup­port. The aurochs herd has grown to 13 ani­mals. More calves can be expect­ed and viewed this year.

The Asso­ci­a­tion of Friends of the Ger­­man-Pol­ish Euro­pean Nation­al Park Unteres Oder­tal e. After hav­ing made the Euro­pean water buf­fa­lo at home in the north­ern part of the nation­al park the year before, V. had con­cen­trat­ed on the intro­duc­tion of the Heck cat­tle this year. In a year-round exten­sive pas­ture land­scape, an eco­nom­ic mod­el is to be demon­strat­ed not least for the neigh­bor­ing farm­ers, which is to be applied in the medi­um term to the 50 per­cent of the nation­al park (Zone II) and thus secure work and liveli­hood for the farm­ers. So it is by no means a hob­by, nor is it pri­mar­i­ly a ques­tion of species and nature con­ser­va­tion, but an adapt­ed form of eco­log­i­cal agri­cul­ture, which in the future will gain increas­ing impor­tance in the nation­al park.

Odoaker das erst Kalb

The young bull can be vis­it­ed and viewed from now on, but some­times hides in the spa­cious pas­ture. Jour­nal­ists are there­fore well advised to reg­is­ter with me before­hand in order to be able to take good pic­tures. Alter­na­tive­ly, two pho­tos intend­ed for pub­li­ca­tion are enclosed with this press release.

Thomas Berg, CEO