Amsterdam Island cattle

Amsterdam Island cattle were a rare feral breed of cattle that were introduced in 1871 and existed in isolation on Amsterdam Island, a small French territory in the southern Indian Ocean. The population was eradicated in 2010 in the course of an environmental restoration program.

History

A party led by Heurtin, a French farmer from Réunion island, on 18 January 1871 attempts to settle the uninhabited 55 km² island. After seven months, their attempts to raise sheep and cattle and grow crops are still unfruitful and they depart on 19 August, abandoning their livestock, including five cattle, on the island.
Over the next century or so a combination of factors causes further ecological devastation of the island, already affected by the introduction of invasive species of plants and animals, as well as by unrestricted hunting, timber-cutting and wildfire caused by sealers and other visitors. The Amsterdam duck and several species of petrel are extinct, and the breeding population of the endemic Amsterdam Island albatross, previously thought to be a subspecies of the wandering albatross, is reduced to just five pairs.
Once the native Phylica arborea forest are almost entirely destroyed, grazing by the increasing numbers of cattle prevents natural regeneration. The original five cattle have grown to about 2000, which occupy an area of 3000 ha, at a density of 0.64 individuals per hectare. They degrade the breeding sites of Amsterdam Island albatrosses. The only part of the island the cattle does not occupy is the Plateau des Tourbières, over 550 m above sea level.
Although the cattle pose a threat to the island's environment, they form one of the very few herds of feral Bos taurus anywhere in the world. In 1987 a fence is built across the island in order to mitigate the damage the cattle impose on the flora and fauna of Amsterdam, as well as to preserve the breed because of scientific interest in its isolation-derived genetic character. During 1988 and 1989, the 1059 cattle south of the fence are culled. Subsequently, the cattle are restricted to the northern part of Amsterdam. About 50-80 mainly adult and subadult males out of a herd of about 350 individuals are shot each year to provide fresh meat for the inhabitants of the Martin-de-Viviès research station, the only settlement on the island.
The population of Amsterdam Island albatrosses increases from 5 breeding pairs in 1983 to 26 in 2007. In 2007, after a study has shown that the areas that were not grazed were recolonized by native plants, it is decided to kill all of the remaining cattle on the island. An association of people who have been wintering on the island before try to oppose the decision, but in vain. The slaughter begins in 2008 and ends in 2010. In 2018, the Amsterdam Island albatrosses recover further and reach the number of 51 breeding pairs.

Description

Sea captain Charles C. Dixon described an encounter with the cattle c. 1900:
The cattle were descended from French stock present on Réunion at the time of their introduction, including Jersey, Tarentaise, Grey Alpine, and Breton Black Pied breeds. They were generally small-bodied, with medium-length horns, and exhibited a variety of colour patterns, including one that was reminiscent of the aurochs. Adult male cattle had an average weight of about 390 kg, while adult females weighed about 290 kg.