Trees for Life has launched a project which could see the first introduction to the UK of a breed of wild cattle called tauros, four centuries after its extinction.

The rewilding charity aims to introduce a herd of up to 15 tauros from the Netherlands to its 4,000-hectare Dundreggan estate near Loch Ness in 2026, in a scientific research project to boost biodiversity.

The release will follow a further year of project development, including research, detailed habitat assessments, and securing full funding.

The tauros have been bred to be as similar as possible to the ancient aurochs, a mega-herbivore which for millennia played a big role in shaping landscapes and boosting biodiversity across Europe.

“Introducing the aurochs-like tauros to the Highlands four centuries after their wild ancestors were driven to extinction will refill a vital but empty ecological niche – allowing us to study how these remarkable wild cattle can be a powerful ally for tackling the nature and climate emergencies,” says Steve Micklewright, chief executive of Trees for Life.

“Our Tauros Project is about looking forwards while learning from the past as we restore nature-rich landscapes that support wildlife and people, and are resilient to future environmental challenges.

“We also want to give people the chance to experience in a safe way the awe and wonder of getting close to an animal that feels really wild.”

Aurochs once roamed much of Europe as a keystone species, ensuring a rich mosaic of habitats including grasslands, forest, and wetlands.

One of Europe’s largest land mammals, aurochs disappeared from Britain around 1300 BC and later became globally extinct in 1627 through habitat loss and hunting, but aurochs DNA has survived in a number of ancient original cattle breeds.

Research in Europe shows these modern-day successors to the aurochs can help create exceptionally rich habitats for wildlife through their interacting with their environment more dramatically.

Herds of tauros move across landscapes in social groups, naturally grazing some areas intensively while leaving others untouched. This creates a mosaic of habitats that benefit a wide range of plants and animals, boost species diversity, and soak up carbon dioxide.

One ecological game-changer is tauros’s creation of ‘bullpits’ – bowls in the earth carved out by rutting bulls using their horns and hooves, or through strengthening their neck muscles by bashing their heads against one side of a pit. Bullpits form micro-habitats that support invertebrates, small mammals and birds, and allow pioneer plant species to establish.

Tauros dung helps ensure healthy soils, and supports invertebrates which in turn are eaten by birds, small mammals and reptiles. Seeds are dispersed via the cattle’s fur.

Trees for Life intends to release the small herd in a way that lets the tauros behave as naturally as possible, and that balances rewilding benefits with conservation of recovering ecosystems.