When most people hear “rare animal,” they think of tigers or pandas. But one of the rarest breeds of cattle in the world began as a small herd of farm animals that were just left behind. According to a 2022 paper by Michael Trotter and Michael Willis in the New Zealand Journal of Ecology on the history of livestock on the Auckland Islands, that is what happened. The paper also shows how in 1993 a handful of determined people saved the last survivors.
A small herd on a windswept island
The Auckland Islands lie in the cold subantarctic waters south of New Zealand’s South Island. Cattle were introduced to the islands in 1850 for a short-lived settlement, but they do not seem to have survived. The herd in this story came later. Records show that on 4 May 1896, nine cattle and 20 sheep were landed on Enderby Island for the Moffatt family. The agricultural venture failed, but the cattle survived on the island for decades. By April 1910, one visitor reported about 100 head roaming there.
Why the herd was removed
In the second half of the 20th century, New Zealand began removing introduced animals from the islands to restore the original environment. Trotter and Willis point out that this raised a tough question: should one element of biodiversity be sacrificed to save another? In early 1991, a team visited Enderby Island and culled 47 animals: 25 cows and 22 bulls. Semen from 16 bulls was frozen for future use. Egg cells collected from 11 cows failed to mature, so that part of the rescue plan did not work.
Deep Dive
How were the last Auckland Island cattle rescued?
How did cloning help preserve Lady's cattle breed?
Why was removing the cattle from Enderby Island a conservation dilemma?
The last cow and her calf
Willis was on the island in September 1992 to rescue rabbits when he and a colleague saw hoofprints from a cow and a calf. In February 1993, a team returned with a helicopter and a net gun and captured the pair. The cow, named Lady, was accompanied by her female calf. They then transported the cow and calf to the mainland. They did not eat hay on the boat, probably because they were used to browsing on woody plants. The team collected leaves from bushes on the shore, and the animals recovered their strength. Unfortunately, the calf died later. Lady arrived in poor condition. After several months of care, she was back to good health.
A second chance through cloning
{{/usCountry}}Willis was on the island in September 1992 to rescue rabbits when he and a colleague saw hoofprints from a cow and a calf. In February 1993, a team returned with a helicopter and a net gun and captured the pair. The cow, named Lady, was accompanied by her female calf. They then transported the cow and calf to the mainland. They did not eat hay on the boat, probably because they were used to browsing on woody plants. The team collected leaves from bushes on the shore, and the animals recovered their strength. Unfortunately, the calf died later. Lady arrived in poor condition. After several months of care, she was back to good health.
A second chance through cloning
{{/usCountry}}The early attempts to get a calf from Lady failed. So scientists at the Ruakura Research Center in Hamilton attempted to clone her. In a 1998 report in Reproduction, Fertility and Development, David Wells and colleagues report that they cloned her from mural granulosa cells. In the first experiment, 22 embryos were transferred, two calves were born alive, and one survived. DNA tests proved the calves were genetically identical to Lady. The survivor, named Elsie, was one of the first cloned cattle in the world.
The current status of the breed
Since then, Lady's line has continued through offspring produced by cloning, embryo transfer, and natural mating. According to the authors, about 30 animals remain, living in three small herds, one on the South Island and two on the North Island. The breed remains classified as critically endangered. The animals are also wild and difficult to handle. Trotter and Willis note that dumping introduced animals is irreversible, so alternatives such as reserves and relocation should be considered first.