European Bison
The wisent (or European Bison) belongs to the bovid family. Bison are well adapted to semi-open landscapes. He has a slender build, high back, short horns and a chestnut brown coat. This allows the bison to move well in the forest. They are so-called intermediate feeders, which means that they both graze and snack on branches, buds and twigs. Both cows and bulls have a goatee that grows longer over the course of their lives. What you see in adult bulls is that they grow a thicker coat from the front legs straight up to the back. An adult bull weighs between 580 and 920 kilograms and can reach a wither-height of more than two meters. Cows weigh 320 to 640 kilograms and grow to approximately 1.75 meters in height. This makes the bison one of the largest living land mammals in Europe.
History
The bison became extinct in the wild at the beginning of the 20th century. Breeding programs from zoos allowed the species to be reintroduced into the wild in 1952. The first bison were released in the primeval forests of Białowieza, in eastern Poland. Out of local pride, and to prevent damage to forestry, many populations are supplemented in winter. There are hardly any real wild populations. There are now approximately 7,000 bison living worldwide, in the wild, semi-wild or in captivity. This makes the bison still rarer worldwide than, for example, the tiger or the black rhino. New research will teach us a lot in the coming years about the true natural behavior of this species.
Reintroduction in Dutch nature reserves
In the Netherlands, Lelystad Nature Park has made an important contribution to the bison breeding program. Bison are deployed from the park in both foreign and Dutch areas. It also offers everyone a good opportunity to get better acquainted with this impressive animal. The first project where bison were reintroduced into the wild took place in 2007 in the Kraansvlak. The animals are closely monitored to this day and many students have contributed to gathering knowledge about the role of bison in nature. In 2016, the first bison were released on the Maashorst and at Radio Kootwijk on the Veluwe. And in the spring of 2020, the first bison were brought to the province of Zeeland. Here the bison live together with the Koniks and Rode Geuzen from FREE Nature. In this area it quickly became clear that bison do not shy away from water and even regularly seek it out. On Slikken van de Heen, the calves were even born on a small island.
Lifestyle and behavior
The trial in Kraansvlak has generated a lot of new knowledge. As a result, we know, for example, that bison can get along well with the public under the right conditions. Bison are quiet animals, but do value their own space. The minimum distance of 50 meters remains important. While old literature told us that bison are true forest dwellers, it turns out that the animals graze in the semi-open landscape. It is also their way of eating and living that creates and preserves this semi-open landscape. They also eat more berries and fruit than our other grazers. They know how to expertly demolish young trees and shrubs. Undesirable species, such as American bird cherry and giant hogweed, are thus reduced. In addition, many open, sandy places are created by their sand baths. These sand baths are an essential part of their coat care. In this way, bison know how to restore the landscape at different levels in their succession. Many (pioneer) species benefit from this. In 2020 we have already seen many rare insects return thanks to sand baths and bull pits of both wisent and other large grazers.
The wisent has now proven to be a valuable addition to other species of large grazers such as cattle, horses or red deer. In the coming years, FREE Nature will continue to work to ensure that bison are reintroduced in more places in the Netherlands. We can highly recommend an excursion to the bison. In the area overview you will find a link to the site owners who organize this.
