CHILLINGHAM WILD CATTLE
Snt,—With reference to the paragraph about Chillingham Wild Cattle which appeared in " A Spectator's Notebook " column• in your issue of December xst, I would like to point out that the association, which was formed early this year to maintain and preserve the herd, is named as below, viz.- " Chillingham Wild Cattle Association, Limited." I would also like to point out that your suggestion that the two animals presented to the Zoo, which the Zoo have now intimated that they may no longer be able to support, could not, ats you suggest, be returned to the herd at Chillingham. No animal which has been caught and taken out of the herd can ever return to it, for the others will invariably set upon it and kill it immediately.
A few years ago, when the Chillingham cattle now at Whipsnade were being caught, a yearling bull and a young calf Were first trapped. The young calf was immediately re- leased and ran back to its mother. The yearling bull, which was not a very good specimen, was crated for transport for not more than a couple of hours. The better specimens now at Whipsnade were subsequently trapped, and the yearling bull was then released. The young calf was found dead the next morning, killed apparently by its mother ; the yearling bull was found in a bog and released, but two days later was again found in boggy ground and dead.—I remain, yours
Chillingham Wild Cattle Association, Limited, Estate Office, Chillingham, Chatton, Northumberland.
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