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27 Jul 2021

Conservation coos at Culloden

A Shetland calf is standing in a meadow, with Culloden Visitor Centre in the background.
Rocket, one of Culloden’s newest recruits | Image by Alison White
Meet the new conservation team helping to preserve and maintain the moorland at Culloden.

Our latest recruits come from a great conservation pedigree and join 12 Shetland cattle, 6 primitive goats and 2 Highland ponies, who all take part in conservation grazing on the battlefield site.

Working to control the scrub and create a healthy moorland, these animals play a crucial role in maintaining the landscape to showcase what Culloden Battlefield would have looked like in 1746.

The Trust relies on the herd to provide continuous work on the moorland to protect the archaeology of the land as well as the natural flora and fauna.

A Highland cow standing in a meadow, with Culloden Visitor Centre in the background. A brown & white and a black & white cow graze on a meadow in front of the Culloden Visitor Centre. A blond highland cow stands in a meadow with Culloden Visitor Centre in the background. A black and white Shetland cow stands in a meadow.

The appeal of cattle at Culloden is truly global. In particular, generous supporters in the US have been known to donate and name new additions to the herd.

Some of the new cows and calves give a little nod to Culloden’s past, with Flora and Lady Anne named after strong Jacobite women who assisted the Bonnie Prince during, and in the wake of, the 1745 Rising. Others have more quirky names, including our stellar new calf, Rocket.

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Red flags stand in a line, some distance apart from each other, on Culloden Battlefield.
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Culloden

Powerfully emotive and atmospheric battlefield where the 1745 Jacobite Rising came to a tragic end

The Highlands

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