Its status has improved since then, changing to vulnerable and later to near threatened. European bison were first scientifically described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758.
The last European bison in Transylvania died in 1790. During World War I, occupying German troops killed 600 of the European bison in the Białowieża Forest for sport, meat, hides and horns.
In 1847, a herd of wisent-cattle hybrids named żubroń () was created by Leopold Walicki.
Sculptures of the wisent constructed in the 19th and 20th centuries continue to stand in a number of European cities; arguably the most notable of these are the zubr statue in Spała from 1862 designed by Mihály Zichy and the two bison sculptures in Kiel sculpted by August Gaul in 1910–1913.
The data for 31 December 2017 showed 1873 animals living in Poland of which 1635 are in free-range herds.
Sculptures of the wisent constructed in the 19th and 20th centuries continue to stand in a number of European cities; arguably the most notable of these are the zubr statue in Spała from 1862 designed by Mihály Zichy and the two bison sculptures in Kiel sculpted by August Gaul in 1910–1913.
bonasus subspecies being shot in the Białowieża Forest (on today's Belarus–Poland border) in 1921, and the last of the Caucasian wisent subspecies (B.
The last wild European bison in Poland was killed in 1921.
By that year, fewer than 50 remained, all held by zoos. The International Society for the Preservation of the Wisent was founded on 25 and 26 August 1923 in Berlin.
caucasicus) in the north-western Caucasus in 1927.
The last wild European bison in the world was killed by poachers in 1927 in the western Caucasus.
The last free-living wisent in the Caucasus was shot in 1927.
Efforts to restore this species to the wild began in 1929, with the establishment of the Bison Restitution Centre at Białowieża, Poland.
The breeding book was published in the company's annual report from 1932.
While Priemel aimed at a slow increase in the Wisent population with the pure conservation of the breeding line, Lutz Heck planned to suddenly increase the Wisent population by crossing American bison in 1934 in a separate breeding project in Munich.
Priemel was then banned from publishing in relation to bison breeding, and the regular bookkeeper of the "International Society", Erna Mohr, was also forced to hand over the official register in 1937.
In the years 1945 to 2014, from the Białowieża National Park alone, 553 specimens were sent to most captive populations of the zubr in Europe as well as all breeding sanctuaries for the species in Poland. Since 1983, a small reintroduced population lives in the Altai Mountains.
Subsequently, in 1948, the Bison Breeding Centre was established within the Prioksko-Terrasny Biosphere Reserve. The modern herds are managed as two separate lines – one consisting of only Bison bonasus bonasus (all descended from only seven animals) and one consisting of all 12 ancestors, including the one B.
The cross-bred individuals created at other zoos were eliminated from breed books by the 1950s.
From five initial bulls, all current European bison bulls have one of only two remaining Y chromosomes. ===Reintroduction=== Beginning in 1951, European bison have been reintroduced into the wild, including some areas where they were never found wild.
After the Second World War, therefore, only the pure-blooded bison in the game park Springe near Hanover were recognized as part of the international herd book. The first two bison were released into nature to the Białowieża Forest in 1952.
This new location announcement resulted in effecting ecologists' efforts to redesign some bridges of the S19 highway (which will be constructed in years 2020 - 2022 to allow large animals to cross it). The wisents were reintroduced in 1958, when the first two animals were brought from Poland and kept in a reserve in Hațeg.
Almost 100 free-roaming animals, as of 2019, population slowly increasing in the three areas where wild bison can be found: Northern Romania – Vânători-Neamț Natural Park, and South-West Romania – Țarcu Mountains and Poiana Ruscă Mountains, as part of the Life-Bison project initiated by WWF Romania and Rewilding Europe, with co-funding from the EU through its LIFE Programme. Around 461, population generally stable and increasing. A bison reserve was established in Topoľčianky in 1958.
By 1964 more than 100 existed. ==Genetic history== A 2003 study of mitochondrial DNA indicated four distinct maternal lineages in the tribe Bovini: Taurine cattle and zebu Wisent American bison and yak Banteng, gaur, and gayal Y chromosome analysis associated wisent and American bison.
Moldova is currently interested in expanding their wisent population, and began talks with Belarus in 2019 regarding a bison exchange program between the two countries. Natuurpark Lelystad: In 1976, the first Wisent arrived from Białowieża.
The experiment was continued by researchers from the Polish Academy of Sciences until the late 1980s.
In the years 1945 to 2014, from the Białowieża National Park alone, 553 specimens were sent to most captive populations of the zubr in Europe as well as all breeding sanctuaries for the species in Poland. Since 1983, a small reintroduced population lives in the Altai Mountains.
Between 2017 and 1995, the number of zubrs in Poland doubled; from 2012 to 2017 it rose by 30%.
In 1996, the International Union for Conservation of Nature classified the European bison as an endangered species, no longer extinct in the wild.
A Russian back-breeding programme resulted in a wild herd of hybrid animals, which presently lives in the Caucasian Biosphere Reserve (550 animals in 1999). Wisent-cattle hybrids also occur, similarly to the North American beefalo.
The idea of free bison, on the Romanian territory, was born in 1999, through a program supported by the World Bank and the European Union.
By 1964 more than 100 existed. ==Genetic history== A 2003 study of mitochondrial DNA indicated four distinct maternal lineages in the tribe Bovini: Taurine cattle and zebu Wisent American bison and yak Banteng, gaur, and gayal Y chromosome analysis associated wisent and American bison.
The bison have become a great attraction with more than 100,000 visitors every year. One herd was established in 2005 in the Alps near the village of Thorenc (close to the city of Grasse), as part of conservation of the species.
German authorities ordered the animal to be killed and it was shot dead by hunters on September 2017. 11 animals in the Őrség National Park and few more in the Körös-Maros National Park. 214 free-ranging animals as of 2017. Extirpated from Moldova since the 18th century, wisents were reintroduced with the arrival of three European bison from Białowieża Forest in Poland several days before Moldova's Independence Day on 27 August 2005.
Kraansvlak herd established in 2007 with three wisents, and expanded to six in 2008; the Maashorst herd established in 2016 with 11 wisents; and the Veluwe herd established in 2016 with a small herd.
In 2007, a bison pilot project in a fenced area was begun in Zuid-Kennemerland National Park in the Netherlands.
Kraansvlak herd established in 2007 with three wisents, and expanded to six in 2008; the Maashorst herd established in 2016 with 11 wisents; and the Veluwe herd established in 2016 with a small herd.
As of 2013, there was also a wild breeding herd of 16 animals in Poloniny National Park with an increasing population. Two herds in northern Spain were established in 2010.
Five wisents were introduced on 24 April 2011.
Four of the five bison have subsequently died due to problems acclimatizing to the low winter temperature. In 2011, three bison were introduced into Alladale Wilderness Reserve in Scotland.
Some local populations are estimated as: 10 animals 1962 animals in 2019. Around 150 animals in northeastern Bulgaria; a smaller population has been reintroduced in the eastern Rhodope Mountains. 106 animals in 2017. Two herds were established in the summer of 2012, as part of conservation of the species.
In June 2012, one male and six females were moved from Poland to the Danish island Bornholm.
Between 2017 and 1995, the number of zubrs in Poland doubled; from 2012 to 2017 it rose by 30%.
In 2015, it contained around 50 animals. A herd of eight wisents was released into nature in April 2013 at the Rothaarsteig natural reserve near Bad Berleburg (North Rhine-Westphalia).
Compared to 2013, the total population in 2014 increased by 4.1%, while the free-ranging population increased by 6.5%.
As of 2013, there was also a wild breeding herd of 16 animals in Poloniny National Park with an increasing population. Two herds in northern Spain were established in 2010.
In April 2013, eight European bison (one male, five females, and two calves) were released into the wild in the Bad Berleburg region of Germany, after 850 years of absence since the species became extinct in that region. Plans are being made to reintroduce two herds in Germany and in the Netherlands in Oostvaardersplassen Nature Reserve in Flevoland as well as the Veluwe.
The Białowieża Primeval Forest, an ancient woodland that straddles the border between Poland and Belarus, continues to have the largest free-living zubr population in the world with around 1000 wild bison counted in 2014.
As of 2014 they were 1434 wisents, out of which 1212 were in free-range herds, and 522 belonged to the wild population in the Białowieża Forest.
Compared to 2013, the total population in 2014 increased by 4.1%, while the free-ranging population increased by 6.5%.
In the years 1945 to 2014, from the Białowieża National Park alone, 553 specimens were sent to most captive populations of the zubr in Europe as well as all breeding sanctuaries for the species in Poland. Since 1983, a small reintroduced population lives in the Altai Mountains.
In 2015, it contained around 50 animals. A herd of eight wisents was released into nature in April 2013 at the Rothaarsteig natural reserve near Bad Berleburg (North Rhine-Westphalia).
As of May 2015, 13 free-roaming wisents lived there.
Currently, the only surviving żubroń herd consists of just a few animals in Białowieża Forest, Poland and Belarus. In 2016, the first whole genome sequencing data from two European bison bulls from the Białowieża Forest revealed that the bison and bovine species diverged from about 1.7 to 0.85 Mya, through a speciation process involving limited gene flow.
For 2016, the number was 6,573 (including 4,472 free-ranging) and has been increasing.
Kraansvlak herd established in 2007 with three wisents, and expanded to six in 2008; the Maashorst herd established in 2016 with 11 wisents; and the Veluwe herd established in 2016 with a small herd.
The data for 31 December 2016 showed 1698 zubrs living in Poland of which 1455 were in free-range herds.
In March 2016, a herd was released in the Maashorst Nature Reserve in North Brabant.
schoetensacki), and published in 2017, posit that genetic similarities between the Pleistocene woodland bison and the wisent suggest that B.
Some local populations are estimated as: 10 animals 1962 animals in 2019. Around 150 animals in northeastern Bulgaria; a smaller population has been reintroduced in the eastern Rhodope Mountains. 106 animals in 2017. Two herds were established in the summer of 2012, as part of conservation of the species.
In September 2017 one of the free-living Polish animals swam the border river Oder and migrated to Germany.
German authorities ordered the animal to be killed and it was shot dead by hunters on September 2017. 11 animals in the Őrség National Park and few more in the Körös-Maros National Park. 214 free-ranging animals as of 2017. Extirpated from Moldova since the 18th century, wisents were reintroduced with the arrival of three European bison from Białowieża Forest in Poland several days before Moldova's Independence Day on 27 August 2005.
Numbers at the end of 2017 were: Lelystad 24, Kraansvlak 22, Maashorst 15 and the Veluwe 5, for a total of 66 animals. As of 31 December 2019 the number was 2269 – total population has been increasing by around 15% to 18% yearly.
Between 2017 and 1995, the number of zubrs in Poland doubled; from 2012 to 2017 it rose by 30%.
The data for 31 December 2017 showed 1873 animals living in Poland of which 1635 are in free-range herds.
In 2018 it was decided to keep the bison on Bornholm, but fenced.
As of 2018, the total population neared a hundred animals, half of them in Castile and León, but also in Asturias, Valencia, Extremadura and the Pyrenees. There are approximately 139 animals. Coming from Poland, one male and four females have been introduced in November 2019 into the natural reserve and forest of Suchy, Vaud Canton, western Switzerland.
The herd of 3 females and 1 male will be set free in 2022 within a 2,500-acre conservation area in Blean Woods near Canterbury. ===Numbers and distribution=== ====Numbers by country==== The total worldwide population recorded in 2019 was around 7,500 – about half of this number being in Poland and Belarus, with over 25% of the global population based in Poland alone.
Some local populations are estimated as: 10 animals 1962 animals in 2019. Around 150 animals in northeastern Bulgaria; a smaller population has been reintroduced in the eastern Rhodope Mountains. 106 animals in 2017. Two herds were established in the summer of 2012, as part of conservation of the species.
Moldova is currently interested in expanding their wisent population, and began talks with Belarus in 2019 regarding a bison exchange program between the two countries. Natuurpark Lelystad: In 1976, the first Wisent arrived from Białowieża.
Numbers at the end of 2017 were: Lelystad 24, Kraansvlak 22, Maashorst 15 and the Veluwe 5, for a total of 66 animals. As of 31 December 2019 the number was 2269 – total population has been increasing by around 15% to 18% yearly.
As of 31 December 2019 data - out of 2269 zubrs, 2048 were free-roaming and 221 were living in captivity, including zoos.
Almost 100 free-roaming animals, as of 2019, population slowly increasing in the three areas where wild bison can be found: Northern Romania – Vânători-Neamț Natural Park, and South-West Romania – Țarcu Mountains and Poiana Ruscă Mountains, as part of the Life-Bison project initiated by WWF Romania and Rewilding Europe, with co-funding from the EU through its LIFE Programme. Around 461, population generally stable and increasing. A bison reserve was established in Topoľčianky in 1958.
As of 2018, the total population neared a hundred animals, half of them in Castile and León, but also in Asturias, Valencia, Extremadura and the Pyrenees. There are approximately 139 animals. Coming from Poland, one male and four females have been introduced in November 2019 into the natural reserve and forest of Suchy, Vaud Canton, western Switzerland.
In 2020 a new herd of 14 bison was established in the Slikken van de Heen.
According to National Forests programme the next place where about 40 free-roaming zubrs will be placed is the Lublin Region (Lasy Janowskie) in 2020 and 2021.
This new location announcement resulted in effecting ecologists' efforts to redesign some bridges of the S19 highway (which will be constructed in years 2020 - 2022 to allow large animals to cross it). The wisents were reintroduced in 1958, when the first two animals were brought from Poland and kept in a reserve in Hațeg.
According to National Forests programme the next place where about 40 free-roaming zubrs will be placed is the Lublin Region (Lasy Janowskie) in 2020 and 2021.
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