They usually live in Hellabrunn Zoo.
But the Murnau-Werdenfels cows Wilma and Kenya went out on a country trip this year.
Schwaiganger
- you are "Stoderer".
But Wilma and Kenya spent the summer in the country.
Not for swimming, mountaineering or mountain biking, because the two are not people, but cows.
Murnau-Werdenfelser.
They usually live in Hellabrunn Zoo.
In summer they moved to the grounds of the Schwaiganger stud.
The Murnau-Werdenfelser cattle breed is a very robust, old land breed from Upper Bavaria, the population of which has declined significantly in recent decades.
They are three-purpose cattle that are geared towards milk yield and meat quality as well as traction in the work team.
Long threatened with extinction, things have been on the up again for around 15 years.
Hellabrunn Zoo participates in the breeding program for the endangered domestic animal breed.
Specimens have been living in the zoo for a few years.
Mission: get pregnant
Wilma (6) and Kenya (5) had a mission: to get pregnant in Schwaiganger. The two bulls Romulus and Bergwind should take care of that. At least for the cow Wilma, the “honeymoon” was successful. She returned to Hellabrunn pregnant and is expecting a young in spring 2022. For Kenya, however, the stay in Schwaiganger will be extended for some time. Because the possibility of a natural jump for the cow, in which attempts at artificial insemination were previously unsuccessful, has so far not worked. “That is why, in close cooperation with the Schwaiganger main and state stud, we decided to extend Kenya's honeymoon by a few more months in the hope that it might also be pregnant,” explains Carsten Zehrer, zoological director at Hellabrunn Zoo."So that Wilma is not alone in the Hellabrunn Mühlendorf in the meantime, she has returned to Munich with another cow from the Schwaiganger Stud." It is unclear how long Kenya will remain in Schwaiganger. “There is still no schedule,” says Dennis Späth, head of corporate communications at the zoo. Artificial insemination has already been successful at Wilma - she gave birth to Bulle Theo in Hellabrunn in winter 2019.Artificial insemination has already been successful at Wilma - she gave birth to Bulle Theo in Hellabrunn in winter 2019.Artificial insemination has already been successful at Wilma - she gave birth to Bulle Theo in Hellabrunn in winter 2019.
Nobody from the stud management was available for comment on Tuesday.
As you can hear, it happens again and again that someone brings a Murnauer-Werdenfels cow to cover.
However, this is not the rule.
The herd with the rare cattle currently comprises 20 suckler cows plus offspring.
Endangered breeds of pets
With the opening of the Hellabrunn Mühlendorf in 2018, the zoo placed an important focus on endangered, mainly domestic, livestock and domestic animal breeds.
“In this context, we decided to include Murnau-Werdenfelsers,” says Späth.
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