The Highland cow and the horse of the woods : how Highland cattle can help the capercaillie

Dennis, Roy2025

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Summary

The numbers of capers in Scotland's pine forests have tumbled from 20,000 in the 1960s to about 400 today. The bird is facing extinction and without major conservation recovery could die out again, as it did in the early 19th century. Roy Dennis has known the caper since 1960 and writes about how to save this beautiful 'great turkey-like bird'. The story concerns its old pine forest habitat and how the capercaillie's living space has become dysfunctional. The key to recovery is to mimic the original ancient ox, the great aurochs, which had a profound beneficial impact on the ecology of the woodlands. Those early cattle morphed into the Highland cow, which is the closest relative of its ancient ancestor. Roy explains how the cattle restore the ecosystem, create path networks, increase biodiversity and invertebrate populations to the benefit of capercaillies but also for the whole of wild nature.