The aurochs was the ancestor of all current domesticated cattle, including the humped zebu cattle of South Asia and East Africa. None are now living (except in strictly cladistic terms), but they have not been extinct for long; the last one, a female, was killed in what is now Poland in 1627.

When did the aurochs go extinct?

For thousands of years the aurochs were the largest land mammals in Europe, until the rise of human civilization decimated their numbers, and the last of the species died in Poland in 1627 – one of the first recorded cases of extinction.

Can we bring back aurochs?

For some years now, a group of ecologists and scientists have been working to bring the aurochs back. The effort stems from observations that smaller modern cattle breeds are poorly adapted for 'rewilding', or returning areas set aside for the purpose to their native state.