Re: millionfold reduction in the global herd?
Unfortunately true. In this human dominated age, being evolutionarily successful for many animals (and plants for that matter) has become
a) Be Tasty or otherwise useful to humans
b) Be easy to raise in captivity or domesticate
It always amuses me to see PETA's attempts to drastically reduce the number of animals in the world by banning them from being used as pets, for work or for food.
A few thousand cows is about right, and add to that sheep, horses, chickens, pigs, dogs, cats etc.
without human support, these animals would have long since been extinct or present only in zoos/remote locations, as humans have taken over their natural habitat.