The recent appearance of a bison cub is indeed remarkable. It is the first wild bison born in the UK in thousands of years.
The historic new arrival was unexpected.Three female bison were released into the wild in July, into the Wilder Blean wilding project in Kent, England, by the Kent Wildlife Trust.
This was the first time in thousands of years that wild bison had been reintroduced into the UK. The goal is for the bison to act as «ecosystem engineers», transforming the area with their natural behavior, hoping to restore life to the forest and fight climate change.
“The bison will create a more climate resilient landscape within West Blean and Thorden Woods, near Canterbury, and their natural behaviours restore dynamic and complex habitats,” a press release said.
“By creating layers within the forest and naturally felling trees, the woodland will move away from being a monoculture, and wetter areas will not only store carbon, but reduce flood risk.”
But the researchers ended up with one more bison than they expected because they didn’t know one of the female bison was pregnant.
European bison became extinct in the UK thousands of years ago during the last ice age, according to the Natural History Museum.They were on the verge of extinction after the First World War, but were saved thanks to reintroduction programs.
“To think that their numbers now swell beyond 9,000 is a true testament to the commitment and dedication of international breeding efforts and, as an organisation, Kent Wildlife Trust are privileged to now be part of that journey,” said Paul Hadaway, the Director of Conservation for Kent Wildlife Trust.
The researchers are now monitoring the bison in their environment, hoping they will naturally reforest.
And while they didn’t expect the little, he certainly made a delightful addition to the herd.
We are so excited to see this beautiful baby bison born, which was an unexpected surprise for this restoration project.
