Renaissance · Europe · Science
1627
Korean Aurochs Extinct in Europe
1627
The last known European aurochs, a female of the enormous wild ancestor of domestic cattle, died in the forest of Jaktorow in the Mazovian woodlands of Poland. Kings had hunted them for centuries; poaching and habitat loss finished the species. A great Ice Age beast vanished quietly from Europe, and the concept of extinction began its slow entry into human consciousness.