Save White Park Cattle from dying out

Help Eric save a rare breed of cattle from dying out.

White Park Cattle are getting rarer and rarer because they can not compete with commercial breeds and so are no longer bred for beef. Eric is passionate about these beautiful animals, and he uses his own money from his daytime job in IT to keep a small herd on his farm in the Limousin in France. He is the only person in France with White Park Cattle and people always admire them. For the breed to survive beyond the current generation, genetics from small herds spread around various countries needs to be mixed, and calves produced.

But Eric is worried, because all the bulls that could father the next generations, are trapped in the UK because of a ban on transporting live animals across its borders. It is unlikely that ban will be lifted for a very long time because the UK currently have an outbreak of a cattle disease called 'blue tongue'.

So something different needs to be done, and fast. Eric's plan is to swap embryos between countries, instead of live animals. It is an idea that has been proven to work in other breeds of cattle, has the support of local veterinary practitioners in France, and is backed by the White Park Cattle Societies in both the UK and Germany.

With £32,000 to kick start the breeding program, surrogate mums outside the UK could be implanted with embryos from the UK in spring next year (2025), and new calves born in spring 2026. All donations will be spent on making this plan work and saving the future of the breed.

Pictures and additional details can be found on the White Park Cattle France website .