Tauros Organization
The Tauros Programme is an initiative of the Dutch Taurus Foundation. Meanwhile it has become a joint initiative of more organisations. In 2010 Ark Nature joined the initiative followed by Rewilding Europe in 2011.
The scientific part of the programme is being carried out by Wageningen University (by ass. prof. Richard Crooijmans of the Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics). Most of the breeding programme itself is being carried out 'in situ'. However, to get very specific combinations of breeds and individuals, the Tauros Programme also uses artificial techniques such as artificial insemination and embryo techniques. For this we cooperate with the Dutch firm Hurkmans ET a specialist in this area.
Finance and support
Until 2010 the Tauros Programme was completely privately financed by the Taurus foundation itself. Since than financial support has been given by:
- the province of Limburg (via ArkNature) for reintroduction of the 'Oeros' in the Kempen~Broek Area;
- Rewilding Europe for starting the Tauros Programme in de RE-areas Faia Brava and Velebit with grants from the Swedish Postcode lottery, the Dutch Postcode lottery, The Liberty Wildlife fund;
- The province of Gelderland (FoodValley Programma): a grant for conducting scientific research by Wageningen University;
- In 2014 the Taurus foundation and Wageningen University were granted a European research budget of EUR 240.000 as part of the EGS-ABG programme.
Apart from this, the Tauros Programme still needs additional funding. If you might be interested in the possibilities of supporting the Tauros Programma, please let us know (by sending an email to: info@stichtingtaurus.nl). We offer a number of different possibilities.