Park cows hailed early success with repeat planned
DWTA trial which involved moving cows to a park to help increase grassland biodiversity has been hailed an early success with plans afoot to repeat it next year.
Three adult Hereford cows and one calf were placed in a fenced off area at Elemore Country Park in Hetton-le-Hole, Sunderland, in August.
Durham Wildlife Trust (DWT) official Chris Knox-Wilson said it was still "early days" to tell how successful the project had been overall but it seemed it had been beneficial for wildflowers and orchids.
He thanked the public for their support and said the cows were expected to return next spring.
Knox-Wilson said the trial had relied on people being comfortable walking in the fields where the cows grazed and following rules to keep dogs on leads.
"[It] was really important to us that we weren't restricting locals from accessing their park," he said.
DWTThe cows had been put on the site with the hopes their grazing would allow slower growing and more sensitive plants to flourish.
Knox-Wilson said it was still "early days" but there had been an increase in the number of bee and northern march orchids in the cow area compared to the previous year.
He said the cows had been now removed from the site so some of the grasslands could recover and to prevent overgrazing.
"We couldn't have done it without the public support," he said.
