The Rotes Höhenvieh is a
breed
A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...
of red
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...
from the
Central Uplands
The Central UplandsDickinson (1964), p.18 ff. (N.B. In German die ''Mittelgebirge'' (plural) refers to the Central Uplands; das ''Mittelgebirge'' refers to a low mountain range or upland region (''Mittel'' = "medium" and ''-gebirge'' = "range").) ...
of Germany. It was created in 1985 as a merger of the few remaining examples of a number of closely similar regional breeds of upland red cattle. Reconstruction of the breed was made possible by the discovery of a stock of
semen
Semen, also known as seminal fluid, is a bodily fluid that contains spermatozoon, spermatozoa which is secreted by the male gonads (sexual glands) and other sexual organs of male or hermaphrodite, hermaphroditic animals. In humans and placen ...
in a
sperm bank
A sperm bank, semen bank, or cryobank is a facility or enterprise which purchases, stores and sells human semen. The semen is produced and sold by men who are known as sperm donation, sperm donors. The sperm is purchased by or for other persons f ...
. The name means "red upland cattle".
History
The mechanisation of agriculture in the years after the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
meant that the
draught power
A working animal is an animal, usually domesticated, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks. Some are used for their physical strength (e.g. oxen and draft horses) or for transportation (e.g. riding horses and camels), while other ...
of the traditional upland red cattle of the Central Uplands was no longer required. They became essentially useless, and by about 1980 had all but disappeared. Recovery of the breed was based on about 20 cows, not pure-bred but retaining some characteristics of the old breed, and on the rediscovery in the Zentralbesamungsstation or semen collection centre of
Giessen
Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the Germany, German States of Germany, state () of Hesse, capital of both the Giessen (district), district of Giessen and the Giessen (region), administrative region of Giessen. The population is appro ...
, in
Hesse
Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...
, of about 60 doses of semen from a pure-bred bull.
[
Rotes Höhenvieh, was the first variety of ]German Red
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ger ...
(ger. ''Deutsches Rotvieh'') that adopted a recovery plan. Other local varieties of the combined German Red herdbook reasserting their identity were the Waldeck cattle, Red Wittgenstein
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...
, of Siegen-Wittgenstein (North Rhine-Westphalia), the Bavarian Red Bavarian is the adjective form of the German state of Bavaria, and refers to people of ancestry from Bavaria.
Bavarian may also refer to:
* Bavarii, a Germanic tribe
* Bavarians, a nation and ethnographic group of Germans
* Bavarian, Iran, a villag ...
, the Thuringian Red
Thuringian is an East Central German dialect group spoken in much of the modern German Free State of Thuringia north of the Rennsteig ridge, southwestern Saxony-Anhalt and adjacent territories of Hesse and Bavaria. It is close to Upper Saxon spo ...
(ger. ''Thüringer Rotvieh''), the Harz cattle (ger. ''Harzer Rotvieh'') and the Vogtland cattle
Vogtland (; ) is a region spanning the German states of Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia and north-western Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It overlaps with and is largely contained within Euroregio Egrensis. The name alludes to the former leadershi ...
. Westerwald cattle
The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Massif ( or Rhenish S ...
and Kelheimer cattle got completely absorbed into German Red cattle. Their trace is lost.[ It was listed as "endangered" by the ]FAO
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition ...
in 2007,[ and is listed as "Category II: seriously endangered" on the Rote Liste or red list of the .][ It was named the "endangered breed of the year" by the GEH in 1997.][
]
Use
Rotes Höhenvieh cows give about per lactation; the milk has 3% fat and 4% protein.[
File:Rotes Höhenvieh.JPG, alt= Cow with calf, Cow with calf
File:Landschaftspfleger.jpg, Use in vegetation management
File:Junger Bulle.jpg, alt=Head of a bullock, Head of a bullock
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rotes Hohenvieh
Cattle breeds originating in Germany
Animal breeds on the GEH Red List