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33-499: White cattle (often with black or red ears) are believed to have been highly regarded in Britain and Ireland in very early times, and herds of white cattle were kept as ornamental and sporting animals in enclosed parks for many centuries. They gave rise to the horned White Park cattle , and contributed to the polled British White. However, British Whites are not as genetically distinct from other British breeds as White Parks are, and so there

66-595: A "minority" breed. In Britain, pedigrees are now maintained by the British White Cattle Society, although in the past British Whites and White Parks formed different sections in the same herdbook. The British White Cattle Society of Australia governs the breed in that country. Its first Herd Book was published in 1985. In North America the breed is represented by two separate societies, the British White Cattle Association of America and

99-499: A bull 30 years ago. Until relatively recently breeding remained unsuccessful at any other place but Temple Newsam Home Farm. The standards set at Temple Newsam for saving and promoting the UK's livestock heritage have been used as a benchmark for other agencies. In 2009 a new satellite herd was created at East Torrington in Lincolnshire . This has been a very important step to conserve

132-430: A graceful curve. The horns of the bulls are thicker and shorter. In their native environment in Britain, White Park cattle are known for their distinctive appearance and their grazing preference for coarse terrain. White Park cattle are well-suited to non-intensive production. Some herds are kept outside throughout the year on rough upland grazing without shelter or supplementary feed. They are docile, easy-calving, and have

165-554: A herd in Wales. The history of the breed dates back over a hundred years, beginning with a semi-wild herd, originally established in 1872 in Vaynol Park, North Wales. It was kept there until the death of the owner Sir Michael Duff in 1980, when the estate was sold and the herd was moved to a series of locations in England. This type of herd has never existed in large numbers and the present type

198-472: A long productive life. Some traits may vary depending on their location. Until recently, White Park cattle were a triple-purpose breed used for meat, milk and draught. The 3rd Lord Dynevor (1765–1852) kept a team of draught oxen, and the practice continued up to 1914 . They were used as dairy cattle even more recently. Some cows were being milked in the Dynevor herd in 1951 , but yields were moderate. Beef became

231-449: A second round of IVF. Most national populations of White Park cattle have been DNA tested to verify parentage, to confirm the provenance of products, and to enable assignment of applicant animals to breed and determine the optimum breeding programme to ensure their effective conservation survival. The breeding programme in the UK aims to increase the desirable characteristics of the breed while maintaining genetic diversity, as heterogeneity

264-468: Is a UK charity organisation, which aims to conserve and protect national rare farm animals from extinction. These cattle are currently listed as “critical” on the Rare Breed Survival Trust list. The Trust is trying to keep this rare breed alive by organizing the care of the still existing herds. One important measure is the setting in place of various breeding programs to avoid inbreeding, which

297-399: Is a medium-sized breed, with cows usually weighing 550–700 kg and bulls 900–1100 kg . White Park cattle The White Park is a modern British breed of cattle . It was established in 1973 to include several herds or populations of colour-pointed white cattle – white-coated, with points of either red or black on the ears and feet. Such cattle have a long history in

330-605: Is almost 2,000 purebred females, plus bulls and young stock. In 2013 a small herd was moved for conservation reasons to the Isle of Man . In 2023 the breed was reported to DAD-IS by four countries – Australia (where it may be extinct), Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. The White Park is a medium-large, long-bodied bovine . A programme of linear assessment, including 200 bulls and 300 cows, has been carried out in

363-467: Is descended from a small number of founders. Back in 1989 there was only one existing herd. Four years later the herd was purchased by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) and moved four times in search of a permanent home. The original herd now resides at Temple Newsam Home Farm, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom. It is run by Leeds City Council . The Home Farm, which is open to

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396-454: Is low due to inbreeding through much of the twentieth century. Faygate Brace (born 1906) contributed c.  40% of the ancestry of the breed by the 1940s, and Whipsnade 281 (born 1956) repeated this pattern in the second half of the twentieth century. His grandson, Dynevor Torpedo is now the dominant influence in the breed. Two herds, Dynevor and Chartley/Woburn, have been the dominant influences throughout this time. The global population now

429-426: Is now being taken care of elsewhere. Vaynol cattle were considered wild in the past, but due to their current endangered status and thus increased contact with humans, they are now considered semi-feral . Their nutritional requirements are low due to the animal's small size and weight. They are classified as upland beef. Their suitability in grazing conservation is described as follows: Vaynol cattle originate from

462-511: Is some doubt about their exact origins; other breeds such as Shorthorn may have contributed to their development. These cattle were kept in the Park of Whalley Abbey , in the Forest of Bowland near Clitheroe . After that time the major portion of the herd was moved to Norfolk , in the early 19th century. This herd was sold off in small lots, largely to nobility in the surrounding countryside, and formed

495-478: Is very dangerous within such a small number of animals. In 2006, a five-year conservation programme was started by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust and Temple Newsam in order to establish a genetic profile of the breed. This aims to reduce the levels of inbreeding and is thus an important measure of protection. In 2007, the first calf was born by artificial insemination. The semen used was collected from

528-800: The Bronx Zoo , and later moved to the King Ranch in Texas , where they remained for nearly forty years. In the US the breed is known as the Ancient White Park to distinguish from the hornless American White Park , a population of the British White. The genesis of a herd has been established in New Zealand. Fertile embryos were imported in 2014 for IVF to donor cows. The birthed White Park females provided additional eggs for

561-517: The Rare Breeds Survival Trust in 1973. Numbers have increased and now exceed 1000 breeding cows in the UK. . White Park cattle have been exported to several countries. In 1921, animals were exported to Denmark , and from there to Latvia in 1935 and thence to Germany in 1972. In 1987, cattle were exported to Australia. In 1940, one or two pairs of cattle from the Cadzow herd were exported to Canada. Some of their Canadian-born offspring were transferred to

594-639: The United Kingdom's rarest breeds of cattle with less than 150 breeding animals registered. The breed is currently listed as “critical” on the Rare Breed Survival Trust list. There are currently three officially registered herds of Vaynol cattle existing in the United Kingdom. Together with the Chillingham and White Park cattle, the Vaynol is one of three horned breeds derived from ancient white parkland herds from Britain and Ireland. These park cattle were also

627-482: The American British White Park Association (confusingly, the latter does not cover the horned White Park). The British White has shortish white hair, and has dark points – usually black, but sometimes red. The coloured points include the ears, feet, eyelids, nose and often even teats. It is naturally polled (hornless), medium-sized and compactly built. There may be some coloured spots on

660-760: The British Isles, and the origins of some herds go back to the Middle Ages . In the twenty-first century it is an endangered breed , and in 2023 was listed as 'at risk' on the watchlist of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust . Two semi-feral populations of these cattle were later given separate breed status as the Chillingham Wild Cattle in Northumbria and the Vaynol herd from Gwynedd in North Wales , . In

693-434: The UK since 1994 to define its size and conformation. The weight of a mature bull varies from 800 to 1,000 kilograms (1,800 to 2,200 lb), depending on the quality of grazing, while adult cows are typically 500 to 700 kilograms (1,100 to 1,500 lb). Their coloration is a distinctive porcelain white with coloured (black or red) points. The horns of the cows can vary in shape, but the majority grow forwards and upwards in

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726-621: The United States it is known as the Ancient White Park ; the American White Park is a different breed. In 1225, as a result of legislation passed by Henry III , several parks were enclosed and several herds, including those at Chartley and Chillingham in England, and Cadzow in Scotland, were "emparked". There were more than a dozen white Park Cattle herds in Britain in the early 19th century, but most of these were exterminated by

759-466: The White Park and Chillingham cattle , the Vaynol is a remnant of the ancient white cattle that once roamed Great Britain. In 2009, the Vaynol cattle based at Temple Newsam were separated into two different herds for the first time. Three cows were brought to Lincolnshire, a county located 70 miles (110 km) away from Temple Newsam. The beginnings of a third herd of this breed were formed in 2012 with

792-731: The White Park to be fairly distant from other British cattle breeds, and closest to the Scottish Highland . The colour-pointed coat pattern also appears in other cattle breeds such as the Irish Moiled , the Blanco Orejinegro  [ es ] , the Berrenda , the Nguni and the Texas Longhorn . Vaynol (cattle) The Vaynol ( Welsh : Faenol , pronounced [ˈveɨnɔl]) is one of

825-646: The basis of a similar fourth breed, the polled British White . This endangered breed is very similar to the White Park. Vaynol cattle are angular in appearance with curved hocks and a sloping rump. They can be white with black points or sometimes completely black. The black is found on the ears, eyelids, hooves, nose, on the point of the horns and they sometimes have black socks. The females can have black teats on their udders. They have long horns, curving outwards and upwards. Bulls weigh from 400–450 kg (880–990 lb) and cows weigh from 300–350 kg (660–770 lb). The herd has been moved from Vaynol Park and

858-459: The basis of the British White breed. By the early 20th century these cattle had declined to about 130 registered animals, mainly in the eastern counties of England. By the end of the 20th century numbers had grown to over 1,500 registered animals in the UK and perhaps 2,500 in the US, as well as many in other parts of the world such as Australia, where the breed was first imported by Mrs A Horden in 1958. The UK Rare Breeds Survival Trust lists it as

891-526: The black-pointed animals also carry the red allele . The colour-pointed pattern shows strongly in crosses with other breeds, often with additional dark spotting if the other parent was solid-coloured. As in other cattle the polled characteristic is dominant over horns, so first crosses are also polled. The breed is hardy and thrifty, and the animals readily graze rough vegetation such as rushes , nettles or heather , and they keenly browse many trees and shrubs. They rarely have calving difficulties. It

924-451: The body fur, and the skin beneath the fur is usually coloured (grey or reddish), or pink with coloured spots. The colour-pointed pattern is found in many unrelated cattle breeds throughout the world – it is an extreme pale form of the similarly widespread colour-sided or lineback pattern. The red-pointed variant shows in about two per cent of British Whites, but since red colouration is genetically recessive to black in cattle, many of

957-625: The future of Vaynol cattle by widening the future breeding stock. The Vaynols live on 15 acres of grazing land owned by Lincoln farmer and RBST Trustees Neville and Maureen Turner. On 23 August 2013 a female calf was born after the mother, Templeson Tania, had been artificially inseminated at East Torrington. There are now 5 cows and 4 heifers plus this new calf at the agisted herd in Lincolnshire. The third herd, formed in 2012 with help from The Prince of Wales's Charitable Foundation, consists of 4 cows and 2 heifers. They are also likely to take part in

990-440: The main product during the twentieth century, and gained a reputation as a textured meat, with excellent flavour and marbling, which commanded a significant premium in speciality markets. The white park, a breed I’ve never eaten before and had always assumed was purely ornamental, was really excellent: softly chewy, with that strong, distinctive, almost corrupt flavour of proper beef Studies of blood type polymorphisms have found

1023-492: The public, includes a barn which was built in 1694. It is the largest working rare breeds farm in Europe and the only one of 16 national farms being approved by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust . The Trust is responsible for the herdbook of the Vaynol and owns the majority of the breeding animals. The cattle mainly resides in large green meadows surrounded by barriers, in large estates and national parks. Like closely related breeds such as

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1056-455: The support of The Prince of Wales's Charitable Foundation . The donation enabled the RBST to purchase a Vaynol heifer called Templeson Ursula, who together with her sister Una is taken care of by RBST members Derek and Cindy Steen in Scotland. Vaynol cattle are one of the United Kingdom's rarest breeds of cattle with less than 150 breeding animals registered in the UK. The Rare Breeds Survival Trust

1089-466: The turn of the next century. The Park Cattle registration programme in Britain was started in the early 1900s, but by 1946 only the Dynevor, Woburn , Whipsnade , and Cadzow herds survived as domesticated herds; the ancient herds at Vaynol (Faenol) and Chillingham having become semi-feral. Registration of White Park Cattle ceased during the Second World War , and recommenced after the formation of

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