First domestication of cattle
- Who
- Aurochs (Bos primigenius)
- What
- First
- Where
- Not Applicable (,Middle East and India,)
- When
- 01 January 0001
Scientists now agree that the aurochs (Bos primigenius), the ancient ancestor of today’s cattle, was first domesticated between 8,000 and 10,000 years ago in both the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East and on the Indian sub-continent. Weighing around 1000 kg (2,204 lb) and standing up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) tall, this near-elephant-sized beast died out in the early 1600s as a result of hunting, disease and a shrinking habitat.