Neandertal game reserve, Game reserve in Erkrath and Mettmann, Germany

The Neandertal game reserve is a 23-hectare enclosure founded in 1935 in the Neandertal valley near Erkrath. Heck cattle, Heck horses and European bison live here under largely natural conditions; the Düssel and Hofheider Bach streams flow through the grounds. The Heck animals are back-bred lookalikes of aurochs and wild horses, not the extinct wild forms.

The reserve was founded in 1935 as an early project to reintroduce extinct species to Europe. Its location in the Neandertal valley connects it to the area where remains of early humans were discovered, linking it to the region's scientific importance.

The Heck cattle and Heck horses are back-bred animals meant to resemble the aurochs and wild horses, though the information boards misleadingly equate them with the wild forms. The animals belong to the Naturschutzverein Neandertal, while the Zweckverband Wildgehege Neandertal, formed by Düsseldorf, Wuppertal, Mettmann, Haan, Erkrath, the Mettmann district and the nature association, runs the reserve.

The reserve can be explored via several walking trails where visitors observe animals in their natural settings. A visit here pairs well with the adjacent Neanderthal Museum, which sits right at the location.

The Heck cattle and Heck horses are not genetically identical to aurochs and wild horses but back-bred lookalikes, and the information boards wrongly equate them with the wild forms. The reserve also lies in the Neandertal nature reserve, where free-living grey herons, hobbies and edible dormice can be seen.