[Avodah] Resurrecting the re'em?

[via Avodah]

"Cows  Once as Big as Elephants May Soon Roam Europe" 


http://www.newser.com/story/236611/cows-as-big-as-elephants-may-soon-roam-eu
rope.html
 
--quote-- 
Standing  nearly as tall as an elephant, the aurochs grazed for 250,000 
years until its  extinction in 1627. But its story may not end there: 
Scientists say they are  close to resurrecting the “supercow,” once the largest land 
mammal in Europe,  reports CNN. In search of herbivores to maintain land 
areas at risk of becoming  barren, geneticists began breeding aurochs 
descendants with similar cattle  breeds in 2008 and found they could “produce 
animals far closer to the aurochs  than we would have expected,” says Ronald 
Goderie of the Tauros Project.  Fourth-generation beasts have now been introduced 
in Croatia, Spain, Portugal,  the Czech Republic, and Romania, with 
promising results. 
“We  see progress not only in looks and behavior but also in 
de-domestication of the  animals,” says Goderie, noting one herd has learned to defend 
itself against  wolves. The hope is that they will become part of the ecosystem 
to maintain land  for other animals.  
--end  quote-- 
Strangely  enough, Hitler hired scientists to try to back-breed the aurochs 
because he  thought a huge, powerful animal would be somehow more "Aryan" 
than your regular  cow!   
http://modernfarmer.com/2015/01/nazi-era-cattle-breed-just-awful-expected/ 
Why did the  latest attempt to resurrect the aurochs pique my interest?  
Because many  scholars believe that the aurochs, a huge animal that went 
extinct only a  few hundred years ago, is the "re'em" mentioned in several places 
in  Tanach.   
See the  wikipedia entry on re'em: 
--quote-- 
A re'em is an  animal mentioned nine times in the Hebrew Bible (Job 
39:9-10, Deuteronomy 33:17, Numbers 23:22 and 24:8; Psalms 22:21, 29:6 and 92:10;  
and Isaiah 34:7) and variously  translated as a unicorn or a  wild ox. It 
was first identified in modern times with  the aurochs by Johann Ulrich  
Duerst who discovered it was based on the Akkadian  cognate rimu, meaning Bos 
primigenius, the aurochs, progenitor  of cattle.  
--end  quote-- 
Also  see this pdf article: "Exotic Shofars" by R' Natan Slifkin, a 
fascinating piece  about various animals whose horns have been or could be used as  
shofars.  It includes beautiful pictures.  Around page 17-18 he  discusses 
the likely identity of the Biblical re'em and makes a lively and  convincing 
case for the aurochs. 
http://zootorah.com/assets/media/essays/ExoticShofars.pdf 
If you don't  read the whole pdf at least look at the pictures and read the 
aurochs  pages.  It is a rewarding read. 
I'm posting  this to Avodah for scholarly comments and to Areivim for 
social and  cultural feedback.

--Toby Katz
t613k at aol.com
..
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