Bison Conservation Efforts In Europe Seeing Success

In Europe, bison went extinct nearly a century ago however conservationists are attempting to reintroduce the species back into the wild.

There are a number of female bison that have been brought up in captivity in the United Kingdom that will be reintroduced to a Romanian forest according to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.

The animals arrived last month at the Vanatori Neamt Nature Park in Romanian where they will become acclimatized to their new environment by spending a few weeks in a large enclosure before being released.

One particular bison, a one year old female called Glen Rosa was reared at the RZSS operatred Scotland Highland Wildlife Park

“Glen Rosa and the other bison will join an already established herd in Vanatori Neamt Nature Park, Romania, to help augment both numbers and genetic diversity within the group. This is an excellent example of how zoos within the European Zoo Association’s coordinated breeding programs are helping save species from extinction.” Douglas Richardson, head of living collections for Highland Wildlife Park, said in a statement.

The European bison went extinct in the wild as far back as 1927, however some zoos have maintained small populations. The first captive bred bison was reintroduced into its natural environment in 1952. As a result of conservation efforts the population of bison living in the wild reached over 3,000 by last year. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature the species is considered “vulnerable:

There was a similar story in the United States where tens of millions of the species used to roam freely on the Great Plains. By the early 20th century the numbers of wild bison had fallen to less than 1,100 as a result of habitat loss and over hunting. Thanks to conservation efforts, bison population numbers have recovered somewhat with an estimated few hundred thousand now roaming the nation.