Like nearly all-wild animals moving in herds, the Chillingham cattle have a leader. The strongest bull always acts as king of the herd until displaced by a younger rival. Anyone going near the herd must he particularly careful to keep at a respectful distance from the outcast bulls. These are the ones that have been defeated by the master bull or "king bull", and driven out of the herd. This relegation does not seem to improve their tempers. When the cattle come down to the lower reaches of the park, at intervals, they move in single file, the bulls in the van. But, in retreat, the bulls bring up the rear.

Contrary to the generally held opinion about wild cattle, the Chillingham beasts of Britain are rather small, even stunted, by ordinary standards. They are a dirty creamy-white colour, with dull red ears and red hair about the muzzle. The somewhat short horns-longer in the older beasts-are upwardly directed and black-tipped. The original aurochs is thought to have been black in colour, and the contrast with the Chillingham cattle is therefore great. At one time the cattle are recorded to have had no red about them at all, and the prevalent white may have arisen from captivity and domestication, which frequently tend towards albinism.

Still more powerfully influential may have been the owners' liking for white specimens, and artificial control of the herd resulting in the destruction of those of other hues. The coats are rough and curly and the heads shaggy, and, despite their smallness, the cattle are impressive in appearance. Sir Walter Scott is said to have had them in mind when he wrote: "Fierce on the hunter's quivered hand He rose, his eye of swarthy glow; Spurns, with black hoofs and horns, the sand And tosses high his mane of snow".

Certainly, even though comparatively small as compared with their huge, ancient relatives, when these beasts are aroused discretion is the better part of valour with any would-be intruder on their hereditary domains. The theory that the Chillingham herd may be directly descended from the wild aurochs of pre-civilised times in Europe has been mentioned, and also that many disagree with this view. One of those disagreeing with the theory of aurochs' ancestry of the Chillingham herd was the eminent naturalist and geologist of the past century, Richard Lydekker. He declared that the contention that, "The half-wild cattle of Chillingham are aboriginal wild animals may be confidently stated to be an erroneous idea, and, although they may have existed in their present condition for a very long period, it is practically certain that they are descended from a domesticated or semi-domesticated breed, possibly not very distantly removed from the wild aurochs".