THE EUROPEAN BISON

PROJECT MADE BY NICUTA BOGDAN

Padurea Domnească is the only area in Moldova where European bison live. The species is classified as
extinct in the country. Bison, which had previously disappeared in the territory of Moldova, were brought
from the Polish Kampinos and Białowieża national parks in 2005. The European bison or sometimes
colloquially as the European buffalo, is a European species of bison. It is one of two extant
species of bison, alongside the American bison. The European bison is the heaviest wild land
animal in Europe, and individuals in the past may have been even larger than their modern-day
descendants. During late antiquity and the Middle Ages, bison became extinct in much of
Europe and Asia, surviving into the 20th century only in northern-central Europe and the northern
Caucasus Mountains. During the early years of the 20th century, bison were hunted to extinction
in the wild. The species — now numbering several thousand and returned to the wild by captive
breeding programmes — is no longer in immediate danger of extinction, but remains absent
from most of its historical range. It is not to be confused with the aurochs (Bos primigenius), the
extinct ancestor of domestic cattle, with which it once co-existed. Besides humans, bison have
few predators.
In the 19th century, there were scattered reports of wolves, lions, tigers, and
bears hunting bison. In the past, especially during the Middle Ages, humans
commonly killed bison for their hide and meat. They used their horns to make
drinking horns. European bison were hunted to extinction in the wild in the early
20th century, with the last wild animals of the B. b. bonasus subspecies being
shot in the Białowieża Forest (on today's Belarus–Poland border) in 1921. The
last of the Caucasian wisent subspecies (B. b. caucasicus) was shot in the
north-western Caucasus in 1927. The Carpathian wisent (B. b. hungarorum)
had been hunted to extinction in the mid-1800s. "European bison play a special
role at De Maashorst, keeping the forest more open than other grazing species. Their
sand pits are beneficial for pioneer plants and insects, while bison carcasses benefit
scavengers and replenish soil minerals.
 IN CONCLUSION THE EUROPEAN BISON IS IN DANGER AND
WE HAVE TO SAVE IT AND TAKE CARE OF THE NATURE!