Chillingham Cattle
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Chillingham (Wild) Cattle are cattle which live wild in a large enclosed park at Chillingham Castle, Northumberland, England. This rare breed consists (2006) of only about 80 animals worldwide, most of which inhabit a very large park that has existed since the Middle Ages (the remainder are all at one other site). The herd has remained remarkably genetically isolated for hundreds of years, surviving despite inbreeding depression due to the small population.[1]
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[edit] Description of cattle
The Chillingham cattle are a form of White Park cattle, although they are now generally regarded as separate from the main White Park breed. Chillingham cattle are small, with upright horns in both males and females. Like other White Parks, they are white with coloured ears (they may also have some colour on feet, nose and around the eyes). In the case of Chillinghams the ear-colour is red – in most other White Parks the ears are black (which is genetically dominant over red in cattle).
[edit] Description of the Northumberland habitat
The most striking element of the historic habitat at Chillingham is the widespread occurrence of large oak trees amongst grassland (wood pasture), providing a glimpse of Britain as it may have been in medieval times. A diversity of plants and animals find a habitat here, due to the absence of the intensive farming found in most other places in Britain.
The Northumberland site is also home to a variety of other species including red squirrel, fox, and badger, as well as roe deer and fallow deer.[2] There are approximately 55 bird species including Common Buzzards, Green Woodpeckers, and the Eurasian Nuthatch which claims this latitude as its northernmost range in the United Kingdom.
An on-site warden at the park leads small groups on foot to find the Chillingham cattle herd; on some days they are evident in one of the easily accessible meadows, while on other days they are virtually impossible to find, given the tangled woodlands and the amount of space they have for roaming. Just to the east of the park is the summit of Ros Hill which gives an impressive view over the cattle.
[edit] Ancestry and history of the Chillingham Cattle
According to the Chillingham Wild Cattle Association, Chillingham Cattle bear some similarities to the extinct ancestral species Aurochs, Bos primigenius primigenius, based upon cranial geometrics and the positioning of their horns relative to the skull design. They further claim that Chillingham Wild Cattle may be direct descendants of the primordial ox which inhabited the British Isles during the Stone Age[3]; moreover, according to Tankerville, these characteristics differed from the cattle brought into England by the Romans. However that theory is not substantiated by current DNA analysis which implies that the Chillingham breed is descended from feral cattle.[4]
The Chillingham herd is considered to have been in this same site for at least seven centuries. Before the 13th century this breed is claimed to have “roamed the great forest which extended from the North Sea coast to the Clyde estuary” according to the Countess of Tankerville. During the 13th century the King of England licenced Chillingham Castle to become "castellated and crenolated" and a drystone wall to be built to enclose the herd. At this time there was particular concern about Scottish marauders, which explains also the massive build-up of fortification of the nearby Dunstanburgh Castle at the same time.[5]
[edit] Genetics
Chillingham cattle have been largely or wholly separate from other White Park cattle for a long period, and it is not clear whether Chillingham and the other White Parks share a genetic origin. Subfossils stretching back to about 1250, at least[verification needed] show that the skull size has diminished over time; this size reduction may be the result of inbreeding due to the small herd size.
Using blood typology and mitochondrial DNA analysis, it has been possible to examine the genetics of Chillingham wild cattle. Dr. J. G. Hall of the Edinburgh Animal Breeding Research Organisation has found that the herd’s DNA does differ significantly from all other known cattle.
[edit] Behaviour
The Chillingham cattle herd is one of very few herds of domesticated cattle (Bos primigenius taurus) which are allowed to live effectively as wild animals, including for example leaving all the males uncastrated. Their behaviour may therefore give some insight into the behaviour of ancestral wild cattle.
The fittest bull becomes the alpha bull by fighting and threatening other males to establish supremacy within the herd. Typically an alpha bull will reign for two to three years, after which time a younger, stronger bull takes over. As with certain other mammal species, the alpha male is normally the only one to breed.
[edit] Modern history
In 1939 the Chillingham Wild Cattle Association Limited was formed to study and protect these special creatures. However the herd’s population decreased, and reached a minimum in the unusually hard winter of 1946-1947, which only 13 animals survived. Upon the death of Lord Tankerville in 1971 the Chillingham herd was bequeathed to the Association; however, when the estate was sold in 1980, only the intervention of the Duke of Northumberland saved the herd by providing a 999 year lease by the Association to the herd’s traditional land.
As of 2006, the herd numbers about 80 animals, including a small reserve herd of about 20 head located in Fochabers.
[edit] References
- ^ Visscher et al: Viable Herd of Genetically Uniform Cattle, Nature 409 (18 January 2001), p 303)
- ^ The Wild Cattle of Chillingham, brochure of the Chillingham Wild Cattle Association, Chillingham, Alnwick, UK
- ^ Dowager Countess of Tankerville, patron, Chillingham Wild Cattle Association, Ltd., The Wild White Cattle of Chillingham, Chillingham, Alnwick, England
- ^ Bos primigenius in Britain: or, why do fairy cows have red ears? - Research Article - Critical Essay, http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2386/is_1_113/ai_86063329/pg_3, Jessica Hemming, April, 2002, accessed September 13, 2006.
- ^ C. M. Hogan, History and architecture of Dunstanburgh Castle, Lumina Technologies, Aberdeen, Scotland, July, 2006
