Comprehensive protection of the European bison in Poland
January 19, 2021 will undoubtedly go down in the history of Janów Forest and the protection of the bison in Poland. That day until Janów Lubelski Forest District The first two bison were brought to create another herd of this species in Poland living in the wild. European bison come from the population in the Borecka Forest under the care of the Borki Forest District and the Żubrowisko reserve in the Kobiór Forest District. The animals are transported in wooden boxes to ensure their safety during the journey. It is worth adding that such boxes have been used to transport bison from the beginning of the restitution of this species. Upon arrival, the animals are released to a special acclimatization pen, where they adapt to new conditions and are watched by their keepers. After a few weeks, the bison can be released from the farm into the wild.
The first to arrive from Borek was an 8-year-old cow and her 7-month-old calf – a bull. On the night of January 19-20, however, an unexpected thing happened. The cow and the calf broke the fence and went free. It is not known what caused this escape. It was possible that the wolves had scared her away, or maybe the reason was different. Certainly, however, it should not be seen in the quality of the fence, because it was built according to the standards for the species, but it is also known that a scared bison is able to cross almost any obstacle. European bison are not only massive and strong, but also can be very fast and are able to jump even a two-meter fence. Foresters are able to track the whereabouts of the “runaways” bison because the cow is equipped with a telemetry collar with a GPS transmitter. The cow and its calf stay near the farm, use the feed provided for them and occupy a small acreage. After initial longer walks, they are now moving in the area of four wards.
In the following days, further transports with bison arrived from the Borki Forest District. Such a gradual import of animals from the Borki Forest District results from the possibility of the local bison catchment. On January 25, the last bisons from the Kobiór Forest District (2 young males) arrived. In the adaptation pen there were 6 animals in total, a 9-year-old cow with a GPS transmitter and her calf, a 4-year-old cow and 3 young bulls. All wisents were getting used to the new winter conditions in the Janów Forests. After 5 weeks of adaptation, the herd left the acclimatization farm. The keepers can track the bison through the signal transmitted from the telemetry collar. Soon we will also find out whether the cow with a calf that came out of the farm first will join the rest of the herd.
The founding herd in the Janów Forests, currently numbering 8 bison (including 4 females), is to be the beginning of a subpopulation of about 40 individuals.
Relocation of bison to the Janów Lubelski Forest District and creating a free herd there is one of the tasks planned under the project “Comprehensive protection of the bison in Poland” , implemented by the Warsaw University of Life Sciences in cooperation with the Białowieża National Park and 25 units State Forests . The scope of the project covers 90% of the national free population of this species in 8 provinces and in key breeding farms. Most of the tasks planned for implementation concern the active protection of the species. The most important thing is to take care of the well-being of the population through its management, ongoing monitoring of the number and health condition of animals, management of free herds, including prophylaxis and medical and veterinary services. Extremely important for the protection of the species is also the mitigation of conflict situations related to the presence of bison, as part of the project implemented by, for example, leasing meadows on the outskirts of the BNP and educating the public on how to deal with the encountered specimens, as well as educating farmers on how to prevent damage. At our university, the project is coordinated by prof. dr hab. Wanda Olech , from Institute of Animal Sciences which, together with its team, has been carrying out scientific research and numerous projects supporting and financing the active protection of the bison in Poland for many years.