Hortobágy National Park

The Hortobágy National Park in Eastern Hungary is the largest protected area and the largest natural grassland in Central Europe with cattle, sheep, oxen and horses roaming on its 800 km². It was designated as a national park in 1973 (the first in Hungary), and was put on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999.

Situated in close vicinity of the Tisza River, Hortobágy is a vast area of plains and wetlands that have been used for grazing domestic animals for more than two millennia. The regular flooding of the Tisza provided local farmers with fertile pastures for their herds. Hungarian Grey Cattle was known throughout Western Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Hortobágy provides habitat for as many as 342 bird species. The park is a part of the Alföld - puszta (Great Hungarian Plain).