Aurochs brought from the Netherlands have been released in the mountains on the Czech-Austrian border
The story of two female aurochs with their young that got stuck in quarantine in the Netherlands has a happy ending. Conservationists have released them into the large ungulate reserve in the Gratzen Mountains. Instead of bars and artificial lighting, they are now enjoying sun-lit pastures near the Czech border with Austria.
The fund-raising campaign organised by the European Wildlife conservation group through its local organisation for the purchase and speedy transport of the animals raised the necessary funds in a single day. “I would like to thank you all very much for the quick help that secured a better fate for the animals and spared them from stress and repeated stay in quarantine. When we launched the fund-raising campaign, I didn’t believe that we would manage to raise the funds almost immediately,” said Dalibor Dostal, director of European Wildlife, while expressing his appreciation for the aid from the public.
The female aurochs remained in quarantine in the Netherlands after their originally planned transport to Denmark was stalled at the last moment. Coincidentally, European Wildlife approached the Dutch Taurus Foundation at the same time with a request to choose the animals for the large ungulate reserve on the Czech-Austrian border. Organising the speedy transport spared the animals from another month in quarantine.
The release of the animals into the reserve was rather complicated. The transport was delayed on its way due to road closures in Germany, so it eventually took 16.5 hours to cover more than 1,000 kilometres. In the end, instead of the 6 a.m. planned arrival, the animals reached their the destination around 10 a.m. In addition, the semi-trailer could not get over the last stretch that was around 300 metres long, so it was necessary to transfer the animals on to a smaller trailer, which took several hours. “The animals were then released into the reserve shortly before 3 p.m.,” Dostal noted.
The females with their young from the Netherlands joined two unrelated aurochs bulls that were already transferred to the Gratzen Mountains at late last year. They will thus establish a new genetic lineage in the reserve. Besides aurochs, there are also wild horses in the Gratzen Mountains; these animals were financed for the new site from a benefit concert.
Photo: Jan Kurz
- A new herd of wild horses from the large herbivor reserve European Serengeti were released by conservationists to Bird Meadows
- Three young female aurochs were added to the wild horses in the wetland reserve today
- A second herd of wild horses arrived at the nature reserve today to join a group of European bison
