Aurochs

Aurochs
Animal
Introduced in	Age of Mythology
Hit points	130
Population	3
Hack attack	12
Hack armor	20%
Pierce armor	30%
Speed	5.00
Maximum food	400
Recommended no. of gatherers	5
Behavior	Fights back when attacked

• Retold
• Original

“	Villagers can hunt wild animals for Food. Aurochs will attack hunters.	”
—In-game description

“	This animal can be hunted, but fights back.	”
—In-game description

The Aurochs is the ancient ancestor of European cattle. In Age of Mythology, it is a huntable animal that yields a great deal of food. If attacked, it will retaliate and can cause serious damage to workers.

Similarly to other large huntables in the game (except Elephants and Rhinoceroses), it provides 400 food, but due to its high hit points and strong attack, it is recommended to hunt Aurochs in groups of several workers. The Aurochs appears in the campaign scenario A Lost People. They can also be found on the Ghost Lake map, and in larger numbers on the Tundra map, as well as on a number of Chinese maps.

History

“	Scientific name -- Bos primigenesis Size -- about 6' at shoulder, 2000+ lbs. Diet -- grasses The aurochs (OR-rox) literally means proto-ox in German, and is the original wild stock from which all European cattle breeds were eventually derived. In Europe, cave paintings suggest that these great black bulls were hunted by humans for thousands of years. However, wild strains of aurochs went extinct during the 17th century (and outside of Poland they went extinct much earlier). Wild aurochs were hunted, but herds were also domesticated for meat, milk and as beasts of burden. "Aurochs is fearless // and greatly horned // a very fierce beast, // a famous roamer of the moor // it is a courageous animal." -- Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem	”
—In-game help section

Trivia

• Among all animals featured in the Age of Empires series, the Aurochs is the only species to have gone extinct.
  • However, the Cow, its domesticated descendant, lives on.

Gallery

An in-game Aurochs

A pair of Aurochs