Amsterdam Island cattle

[3] Although the cattle posed a threat to the island's environment, they formed one of the very few herds of feral Bos taurus anywhere in the world.

[2] In 1987 a fence was built across the island in order to mitigate the damage the cattle were imposing on the flora and fauna of Amsterdam, as well as to preserve the breed because of scientific interest in its isolation-derived genetic character.

About 50-80 mainly adult and subadult males out of a herd of about 350 individuals were shot each year to provide fresh meat for the inhabitants of the Martin-de-Viviès research station, the only settlement on the island.

[3] In 2007, after a study showed that the areas that were not grazed were recolonized by native plants, it was decided to kill all of the remaining cattle on the island.

We could see several herds of them beyond the one we faced, and I think there must have been a thousand or more of them.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.