Gray as an Indian rhinoceros and just as rare: There are “cool” offspring in the Schönbrunn Zoo. On September 9th, a Tyrolean gray cattle saw the light of day at the Tirolerhof. “The Tyrolean gray cattle is an old Austrian livestock breed. That's why a typical name had to be found. The father is called Sedinus and the name of the little bull should traditionally start with the same letter. So we called him Seppl ”, says district manager Gerold Vierbauch. Seppl currently weighs around 50 kilograms. When fully grown, it can weigh up to a ton. Until then he still has to eat a lot of hay. That is currently only nibbled. “Seppl is suckled up to the age of seven months. Lena is a great mother cow and takes great care of her first offspring. "

At the Tirolerhof, the zoo brings its visitors closer to old farm animal breeds. Since 2018, after a break for a few years, the Tyrolean gray cattle have been living here again. The breed is critically endangered. Making them known is also the concern of the Tyrolean Gray Cattle Breeding Association, which coordinates the breeding. Managing Director Raphael Kuen: “There are currently only 5,000 registered breeding cows in Austria. The gray cattle are a piece of Tyrolean cultural heritage that we want to preserve. ”It is a so-called dual-purpose breed that provides both a relatively large amount of milk and good meat. She often lives in the Tyrolean Oberland on small farms with few animals. Like at the Tirolerhof in Vienna, where Seppl prefers to dash through the facility with the two weeks younger bee, an original Brown Swiss.