Professor McKenny Hughes published a study in which he endeavoured to prove that the Chillingham cattle could not possibly be descended from the aurochs. In this he asserted they had "become extinct in Britain long before the Roman occupation." He held that they have come chiefly from cattle introduced by the Romans. In contrast to this theory, some natural historians believe that the aurochs may not have become wholly extinct in the wild north of England and Scotland until about the beginning of the Christian era. It is quite impossible to fix even an approximate date. On the other side, the late Sir Harry Johnston, an eminent British administrator and African explorer, a man closely in touch with animals all his life, studied the problem of the Chillingham cattle, forming the opinion that they differ from the aurochs only by being smaller in size and shorter in the leg.

He summed up his view in these words: "The English wild cattle of today bear much the same resemblance to the aurochs as the pariah dog of the west of Ireland bears to the wolf, from which it is derived with scarcely any inter-mixture of other blood, and yet it is degenerate, differing from it only in size, with a bigger brain capacity and less bushiness of the tail." Among British domestic breeds, the black, Pembroke type of cattle probably resembles the aurochs most closely. It has also been suggested that certain structural likenesses can be found in the skulls of some breeds, notably the Hereford, among the domestic cattle, and the Chillingham herd, among the wild ones. The subject is a fascinating one, and whatever the descent of Chillingham beasts-the aurochs, or from cattle introduced by the Romans-they are certainly unique and worthy of preservation.

In any case, they are easily the oldest strain in Britain. For this reason it is fortunate that the herd has been saved for posterity. Owing to the burden of taxation, the Earl of Tankerville announced in 1939 that he was unable to maintain them any longer at his own expense. It was felt by those who know the cattle, and who care for the preservation of what little remains of the wildlife of ancient England, that the extinction of the Chillingham wild cattle would be a calamity.

Once destroyed, they can never be replaced. A public appeal was launched, and the "Chillingham Wild Cattle Association" was formed, members making an annual subscription to cover the expense of the herd's maintenance. Even now things are not easy, but during the past year or two the herd itself has flourished. It was down in numbers to only twenty-nine, but in three years recovered to almost its normal number of forty. Recently seven calves were born, an unusual number during recent times.