Have you ever come across longhorn cattle in Epping Forest? Did you know that these lovely creatures are important to the conservation of this wonderful ancient Forest? In this blog, we will share a brief history and background of the cattle in Epping Forest.
For centuries free roaming cattle have been a feature of Epping Forest
Their owners the local commoners allowed these animals to graze the grasslands. Without grazing or mowing the open areas would become a mixture of scrub and woodland and much of the Forest would become impenetrable. Each animal was marked with the brand mark of its Forest Parish.
Grazing is an important conservation tool
It can be managed much more sensitively than mowing and can create a mosaic of habitats which is especially important for birds and insects. It also encourages a rich diversity of flowers. Many of those that are found on the Forest are adapted to grazing and flourish when cattle are present. Examples are the Pepper Saxifrage and Birds-foot trefoil. Mowing would reduce the number of flowers and encourage coarse grasses to invade.
The conservation herd consists of pedigree English Longhorn, a traditional English breed with a docile nature and an ability to thrive on rough grazing. The numbers of this breed have slowly decreased throughout England where they are used for this type of grazing but the efforts of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust have helped to save it from extinction.
The free-ranging cattle are turned out to graze in the summer months at various grassland sites in Epping Forest. The sites include Chingford Plain, Fairmead and the pollarded glades of Bury Wood. Small numbers of cattle are used to ‘spot graze’ other areas of grassland and heathland for a few weeks at a time. These groups are enclosed by temporary electric fencing for their safety, so they do not roam onto the busy roads of Epping Forest.
Did you know?
Now the longhorn cattle wear NoFence collars. This new technology enables the creation of virtual ‘compounds’, and the collars are informed by a computer in the office to tell the cattle where to go (or stay)!