Heck Cattle - Controversy

Controversy

Criticism of the methodology and result of the Heck brother's programs dates back to at least the 1950s. Cis van Vuure describes the work of W. Herre in 1953 and O. Koehler in 1952 who found: "A lack of basic knowledge about the extinct aurochs, broad selection criteria in the breeding-back experiment and the rich imagination and complacency of the two brothers led to their excessive simplification of the breeding-back procedure. Criticism also focused on the carelessness, the ease and the speed with which they had carried out their experiments as well as the genetic basis".

Heck cattle are propagated in some places to fulfill the role of extinct megafauna in the ecosystem. However, there is uncertainty as to what ecological niche the aurochs itself filled. Dr Frans Vera claims that the aurochs lived in open parkland and supports their inclusion in nature reserve management. Cis van Vuure, however, in his book, Retracing the Aurochs: History, Morphology and Ecology of an Extinct Wild Ox suggests that the aurochs dwelled in dense forests and marshes while the Wisent dwelled in the open landscape. Wisent supporters claim that Heck cattle landscape management is a public relations ploy in order to illegitimately garner support for Heck cattle at the expense of a genuine native species, the wisent.

Because Heck cattle bear less resemblance to the aurochs than some other modern cattle breeds do, a new back-breeding project, TaurOs Project, has formed in The Netherlands. Using the reconstructed mitochondrial genome of the aurochs, the suitability of primitive breeds - such as Sayaguesa Cattle, Pajuna Cattle or Maremmana primitivo - has been tested, in order to locate the ancient DNA in primitive cattle and unite it in one breed.