How tall is an aurochs?

What an aurochs’ height measures

The wild ancestor of today’s cattle, the aurochs had longer, slimmer legs than most cattle breeds, so it stood nearly as tall at the shoulder as its body was long. Its horns grew up to 80 cm (31 in) long. Its size varied from place to place: bulls reached 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) at the shoulder in Denmark and Germany and 1.6 m (5 ft 3 in) in Hungary. The last known aurochs died in 1627 in the Jaktorów forest in Poland.

Drawn at the same 5 ft 11 in: Dromedary camel, European bison and Rhinoceros. Same drawing, different listings: an aurochs’ and a rhinoceros’ figures are each a maximum, a dromedary camel’s and a European bison’s each the lower end of its male range.

This is a published species or breed reference, not a prediction for an individual animal. Where a range is supplied, both ends appear with the reading. Shoulder height and head height are kept apart when comparing animals.

More animals, most looked up first

• Giraffe 18 ft 0.5 in
• Moose 6 ft 0 in

Published heights