Noordereiland nature reserve

The Noordelijk Eiland nature reserve at the Sea Lock in Wintam has a curious grazer: the heck cattle. Or also called the Nazi cattle by some. The heckrund is a breed named after the German brothers Heinz and Lutz Heck. In the 1920s and 1930s, Heinz and Lutz Heck tried to create a breed of cattle with the same characteristics as the extinct wild ancestor of today's cattle breeds: the aurochs (Bos primigenius). As a result, the heckrund acquired some "wild traits" that have been "selected out" in most domestic cows. However, the breeding back of the aurochs was a scientifically controversial matter from the start. It has also never been possible to regain all the characteristics of the aurochs. Nevertheless, from 1933 onwards, the project of the Hecks could fall back on support from the Nazi government. The then Reichforstmeister and Reichsjägermeister Hermann Göring allowed Heck cattle to graze in his hunting grounds Rominten (Krasnolesye) near the Russian-Polish border.

Grazing by Heck cattle provides a permanent dynamic in vegetation development and maintains the ideal landscape for the existing (water) bird population.

Dromos