A royal return for wild bison

ON April 11, European bison were released to the wild in Germany.

A bull, five cows and two calves are now roaming the forests of the Rothaar Mountains in North Rhine- Westphalia. Wild bison have not wandered freely in what is now the Federal Republic for almost 300 years. North Rhine-Westphalia is the most densely populated German state. How ironic that it’s the first to host a wild herd of Europe’s largest mammal.

The driving force behind the project, subsidised by the German government, is 78 year old Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. He owns 13,000 hectares of spruce and pine forest, which support lynx, wild boar, black storks and several species of deer.

The prince works closely with experts on bison from the Warsaw University of Life Sciences. To maximise the species’ gene pool, they select animals for breeding and decide who their partners should be. It’s hoped that one or two wild herds, with up to 25 members in each, will develop from Prince Richard’s stock. They will be culled if numbers pose a threat to the habitat.

The World Wildlife Fund has welcomed the development. The local mayor is also a supporter; he hopes that the prospect of seeing bison in the wild will bring tourists to the area. Not everyone is pleased, however. Farmers fear that their pastures will be invaded, crops harmed or fences damaged. A large bull can weigh a tonne, not a beast to be confronted in anger, and safety issues have been raised at public meetings.

“Bison are indeed great and powerful, but also very peace-loving and shy animals, and present no risk to humans,” a spokesman told Wildlife News Extra. The herd, confined to an 88-hectare area for the last three years, has been studied intensively. The animals’ behaviour, their likely role in the eco-system and the impact on forestry, were thoroughly assessed. Radio collars have been fitted to enable movements to be tracked.

The great herds of wildebeest zebra and buffalo, which roam parts of Africa, provide one of nature’s great spectacles. The notion of herds wandering the forests and plains of Europe seems incongruous. However, ancient cave paintings show that bison were here.Two thousand years ago, Roman records say, bison and aurochs were common.

Thanks to Hollywood, the European bison’s American cousin, incorrectly referred to as a ‘buffalo’, is an iconic animal. Tens of millions roamed the prairies. During the 19th Century, mindless slaughter by greedy European land-grabbers pushed them to the brink of extinction. At one stage, only 500 individuals remained.

The American species likes semi-open grasslands. Its European relative can survive in open country but prefers more forested areas. As Europe’s woods were cut down to make way for agriculture, large animals became increasingly marginalised. Although hunted for food and pelts, bison survived in Britain until the 12th century. They had become extinct in most of mainland Europe 200 years later. Ireland never had bison.

Protected as a royal hunting species, only 300 animals remained in Poland by the mid 19th century. The last wild bison, the sole surviving member of a unique sub-species, was shot in the Caucasus in 1927.

The Bialowieza Forest, straddling the border between Poland and Belarus, is the only remnant of primordial woodland left in Europe. German troops slaughtered hundreds of bison there during World War I. Only nine animals survived the carnage and they were killed by poachers soon afterwards. In 1929, a bison restoration project was established at Bialowieza, using animals brought there from zoos. Slowly, the herds built up. The first releases to the wild took place in 1951.

There are now free-roaming bison in Poland, Russia and Moldova. Bialowieza has about 800 animals. Releases are planned for Denmark and the Netherlands. Despite such progress, the species is still vulnerable; the herds derive from too few ancestors. With their genetic base so narrow, the animals are inbred, leaving them open to infections such as foot and mouth disease. Having herds, such as Prince Richard’s, widely separated from each other provides security.