The birth of a female Vaynol calf through the first-ever successful embryo transfer for a semi-feral breed of cattle has brought new hope in the work to save one of the UK’s rarest native livestock breeds.
The calf, which is called Snow – was born close to Edinburgh on January 6, as the result of a conservation project delivered by Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) and animal breeding specialists AB Europe.
The calf’s birth is an important step in saving the genetic line of a rare Vaynol cow, which had struggled to reproduce.
Vaynol embryos were implanted in recipient Angus cows. However, it’s not the first time embryo transfer has been used for a rare breed.