page_title: Chillingham cattle
section_title: Description of the Northumberland habitat
hierarchical_section_title: Chillingham cattle / Description of the Northumberland habitat
caption_attribution_description: English: The habitat of the herds of Chillingham Wild Cattle, Chillingham Park, Northumbria, England
context_page_description: Chillingham cattle, also known as Chillingham wild cattle, are a breed of cattle that live in a large enclosed park at Chillingham Castle, Northumberland, England. In 2009 the cattle were described as "about 90 animals in Chillingham, which inhabit a very large park that has existed since the Middle Ages". The herd has remained remarkably genetically isolated for hundreds of years, surviving despite inbreeding depression due to the small population. There is also a small reserve herd of about 20 animals located on Crown Estate land near Fochabers, North East Scotland.
context_section_description: To many visitors, the most striking element of the historic habitat at Chillingham is the widespread occurrence of large oak trees amongst grassland (wood pasture), providing a glimpse of Britain as many think it appeared in medieval times. However, most of these trees were only planted in the 1780s - early 19th century, and the truly ancient trees of the park are the streamside alder trees, which were probably coppiced in the mid-18th century. They were probably hundreds of years old even then and the stems now growing are themselves around 250 years old. A diversity of plants and animals find a habitat here, due to the absence of the intensive farming found in most other places in Britain.
  The Northumberland site is also home to a variety of other species including red squirrel, fox, and badger, as well as roe deer and fallow deer.  There are approximately 55 bird species, including common buzzards, European green woodpeckers, and the Eurasian nuthatch which claims this latitude as its northernmost range in the United Kingdom.
  An on-site warden at the park leads small groups on foot to find the Chillingham cattle herd; on some days they are evident in one of the easily accessible meadows, while on rare occasions they can be difficult to find without a fair bit of walking, given the tangled woodlands and the amount of space they have for roaming. Just to the east of the park is the summit of Ros Hill. The cattle are not visible from this viewpoint, which does however give an impressive view over much of north Northumberland. With support from Defra, a network of paths has been created around the periphery of Chillingham Park.
caption: A view of the grazing in Chillingham Park
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