Back in the great wide open
FOUR European bison, born and bred at Fota Wildlife Park, have been returned to the wild in Poland. It’s an extraordinary turn of events that animals from Ireland are helping to save an iconic Eastern European species, which was on the brink of extinction just a few decades ago.
With the work of zoos and wildlife zoologists, the prospects for this distant relative of the cow have improved enormously. Indeed, the saving of the bison is one of Europe’s great conservation success stories.
Thanks to the cinema, the bison’s American cousin, known incorrectly as the “buffalo”, is famous. Millions were slaughtered by “Buffalo Bill” Cody and like-minded vandals although, to give him his due, Cody, like St Augustine, later repented. The European bison has longer legs than the familiar American one but it’s smaller. Nor is the bull’s mane as thick and shaggy.
Our Cro Magnon ancestors drew pictures of bison on the walls of the cave at Lascaux, 27,000 ago. Depictions in the Altamira cave, near Santander, are about 16,000 years old. In Roman times, huge herds roamed central Europe and there are references to bison in Germany and Belgium. Hunted for its meat and skin, it became extinct in Sweden in the 11th century and in Britain 100 years later. A few survived in France until the 14th century.
The last stronghold of the species was Poland, but only about 300 animals remained in 1820. Persecution continued and Europe’s last wild bison was shot by a poacher in 1919. Only 54 individuals were left, all of them in zoos and animal collections.
The last remnants of the forests which covered primeval Europe are found in Bialowiecza, a reserve which straddles the border between Poland and Belarus. In 1929, two bison cows and a bull were brought to Bialowiecza from zoos and a breeding programme got under way. More animals were introduced and a little herd began to grow. The project almost failed during World War II, when a starving human population turned to eating wild animals.
Hermann Goering, commander of the Luftwaffe and Hitler’s designated successor, was an unlikely benefactor. Hoping that Bialowiecza would become his private hunting estate after the war, he decreed that the forest and its wildlife should be protected; poachers were to be shot on sight.
Thirteen of the Bialowiecza bison were released to the wild in 1952. By 1980, there were about 20 herds in Poland and Germany. The animals are closely monitored, food being put out for them during the hard Eastern European winters when snow covers the ground and grazing is difficult. The world population is about 3,000 but the species is still listed as “endangered”.
No bison bones have been found in Ireland. A bull and a cow, brought to Fota from Sweden in 1999, were probably the first bison to reach our shores. A female arrived from Germany, the following year. According to Tony O’ Dwyer, operations manager at Fota, the bison have thrived. Seven calves have been born and the herd grew to 12.
The Fota calves are especially valuable. Derived from Swedish and German stock, they have genes not found in the newly established wild herds. So, on the April 22 last, a large animal transporter arrived at Fota to take four young bison to Rosslare on the first leg of their journey to the Carpathian Mountains.
The trip to the Komaneza Forest took four days. At their destination, they were held for a few days in a compound to check that all were in good health and none the worse for their adventure. Then they were allowed to join their wild cousins.
The three females should have little difficulty integrating. They will soon have calves themselves; bison females gather into harems where they are impregnated by the dominant bull. The Fota male, however, will have his work cut out for him; he must compete with other males to impress females. Only a minority of bulls succeed in becoming dads.
Meanwhile, back at Fota, the herd continues to thrive; two calves have been born since the emigrants left for Poland.
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