Wild Bison born in the UK for the first time in 6000 Years
Photo from Donovan Wright
Edited by Yujin Tchun
A project in the UK designed to study the effects that rewilding can have on the countryside taking place in Kent has produced results much earlier than expected! Three female bison were released into a 5-hectare enclosure in July to see whether the bisons' appetite for bark would kill off the necessary trees to allow more sunlight to reach the forest floor. The unexpected pregnancy was not noticed by the park rangers, as bisons have evolved to conceal that they are pregnant in an effort to stop predators from isolating those females that are expecting.
While the aim was always to breed a larger population of bisons in the area, this was not expected to start until a bull from Germany could be delivered.
So far the female calf has been healthy and according to rangers, enjoys running rings around the three adults. Although the rangers noticed that the mother's udder was slightly swollen, they attributed this to the beginning of the breeding season with bison births usually taking place by July. The aim is for the bison to live entirely wild lives and they are currently being weaned off of supplemental feed that was provided in the parks that they came from. The positive effects of the Bison’s foraging have already been noted, as there has been more birdsong in the forest in addition to more sightings of dung beetles.
Astonishingly, all European bison are descended from just twelve zoo animals, at a time when they were completely extinct in the wild. Currently, there are roughly nine thousand living wild across Europe. Remains found have shown that the last bison in the UK died about six thousand years ago. In the future, the project aims to increase their bison population to ten, the maximum they have licensing for. Further down the line, if this experiment proves to be successful, bison could be introduced into other sites across the UK.
Bibliography
Baby bison born in Kent countryside [Video]. (2022, October 21). BBC News.
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/science-environment-63328726
Carrington, D. (2022, October 21). First wild bison born in UK for millennia after surprise
pregnancy. The Guardian. Retrieved November 5, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/21/first-wild-bison-born-in-uk-for-millennia-after-surprise-pregnancy
First Wild Bison in 6,000 Years Born in UK After Several Were Resettled But No One Knew
One was Pregnant. (2022, October 22). Good News Network. Retrieved November 5, 2022, from https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/first-wild-bison-in-6000-years-born-in-the-uk/
Wright, D. (2022, October 21). [Bison and her female calf]. The Guardian.
