EUROPEAN BISON

THREE wild bison have been released into the British countryside as part of a £ 1.1 million rewilding project at West Blean and Thornden Woods near Canterbury, Kent.

Although they are farmed in north Wales, the huge beasts have been extinct in the wild in the UK for 6,000 years.

So what do we know about our latest reintroduced beast?

Here are some facts: 1

EUROPEAN bison, the continent’s largest land mammal, are the closest living relative to ancient steppe bison that once roamed Britain.

2

THEY are slightly taller than the American bison, but less heavy and aggressive.

3

THE animals are known as ‘ eco- system engineers’, creating muddy ponds, pushing down trees and disturbing the soil to help plants and other animals thrive.

4

EUROPEAN bison suffered a huge blow when First World War German troops killed 600 in Poland for sport and meat, leaving just a few survivors.

5

THE last wild bison was shot by poachers on the Poland- Belarus border in 1927.

6

BUT 50 remained in zoos, and eventually their offspring led to reintroductions in Poland, Germany and Romania.

7

IN 1996, thanks to reintroduction efforts, the International Union for Conservation of

Nature declared the European bison was no longer extinct in the wild. 8

NAZI air force chief Hermann Goering thought of bison as a noble Aryan animal. He had a small herd near Berlin.

9

THE European bison is one of the national animals of Poland and Belarus.

10

BECAUSE of their limited genetic pool, they are considered highly vulnerable to illnesses such as foot- and- mouth disease.