Original distribution
The original distribution of the bison covered a large part of the European continent. In prehistoric and early historic times, its range extended from the north of the Iberian Peninsula across Central Europe and the south of the Scandinavian Peninsula to the Baltic States; from the Bay of Riga, the distribution boundary ran southeastward to the Black Sea and the Caucasus. In the Caucasus, the distribution ranged from sea level to an altitude of 2100 metres. In the south, the distribution probably reached as far as northern Iran in the Holocene (the post-glacial/ modern period), and in Europe as far as Greece and Turkey. In the north, bison reached Finland and the Novgorod region. Raschīd ad-Dīn reports in his historical work, Abaqa, Ilchan of Persia hunted "mountain buffalo" in the mountains near Shahrud in 1275/76, that is, in the Elburs Mountains southeast of the Caspian Sea. This makes an occurrence in historical times as far as the Caspian Sea and Koh-i-Elburz in Afghanistan seem at least conceivable.
The habitat of the bison already began to shrink during the Neolithic period about 6000 years ago. The transition from hunter-gatherer cultures to sedentary farmers, which began in the Neolithic, was accompanied by increasing human use and deforestation. Crops were increasingly grown in clearings and cleared areas, and the forest was used as grazing land for domestic animals. As a result of this increasing cultivation and use of the forests, the bison had already become extinct in large parts of France by the 8th century. On the territory of today's Germany the bison disappeared between the 14th and 16th century. In East Prussia there were still so many bison at the beginning of the 18th century that several bison were made to fight against bears and wolves in the Königsberg Hetztheater on the occasion of the coronation celebrations of Frederick I in January 1701. The last free-living East Prussian bison was killed in 1755 in the Tapiauer forest by a poacher. In Romania, wild bison still existed in the late 18th century.
In the area of present-day Poland, bison were already rare in the 11th century, but remnant populations were able to survive in larger forest areas where they were protected as royal game. The forest of Białowieża was of particular importance for the preservation of the bison. As early as the Middle Ages, this remote region in the border area between present-day Poland and Belarus was a privileged hunting ground of the Polish kings. Bison could only be hunted here with special permission from the Polish ruler. From 1795 the area was under strict protection of the Russian Tsar. The area was used as a hay forest, but poaching was punishable by death and from 1803 logging was prohibited in large parts of the forest. From 1832 until the end of the First World War the bison population was counted annually. It reached its maximum in 1857 with 1900 bisons. After that, two epizootics in 1890 and 1910 caused a decline in the population. At the beginning of 1915 there were still about 770 bison living in the area. In autumn 1917 there were only 150 animals left. Immediately after the end of the First World War most of the animals fell victim to marauding soldiers as well as poachers. Remains of a poached bison and tracks of four other animals were found for the last time on April 4, 1919. However, since during the 19th century bison had been repeatedly captured from bison herds in this area and given to zoos and enclosures, it was possible to fall back on these descendants of Białowieża bison when efforts to preserve the species began in the 1920s. The so-called Pleß line, for example, goes back to a bull and four cows that were donated to the Prince of Pleß in 1865 and used for breeding in the Pleß forests for several decades. The bull Plisch with the studbook number 229, which was brought back from Pleß to Białowieża in 1936, is of great importance in today's conservation breeding. Almost all bison currently living in the Białowieża Forest are descended from him.
Already in the 17th century it was known in Central Europe that there were also bison populations in Caucasia. It was not until the 19th century that naturalists such as Alexander von Nordmann and Gustav Radde collected more details about the wild cattle living there during their research trips. The distribution area of the Caucasus bison was the northern slope of the Caucasus massif as well as its foothills. On the southern side of the mountains bison occurred only in the west to about the border of Abkhazia. In the 19th century, about 2000 individuals of the Caucasian bison still lived. Due to the Great Caucasian War and increasing human settlement in the area of distribution, the population declined more and more. In the 1890s, there were only 442 Caucasian bison left, which were placed under protection by the Russian Tsar. After an epizootic was additionally introduced by domestic cattle in 1919, the number of animals decreased to 50 individuals. The last free-living Caucasian bison was killed in 1927. However, a bull of this species named Caucasus and studbook number 100 played a significant role in the conservation breeding of bison. He was crossed with lowland bison, thus establishing the lowland Caucasus line.
Current distribution
Re-introductions of bison took place in 1952 in the Polish part and in 1953 in the Belarusian part of Białowieża. In 2004, 29 free and two semi-free populations lived in Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania and Slovakia. Since the 1980s, a small population of the lowland bison has also been living again in the Altai Mountains of Russia, but it is increasingly suffering from inbreeding.
Wildlife reintroduction projects
Caucasus 1940
In June 1940, five bison of a Caucasian hybrid line bred in the Soviet Union (B. b. bonasus × B. b. caucasicus × B. bison) were reintroduced in the Western Caucasus. By 1985, these bison hybrids had reclaimed 140,000 hectares of mountain forests and alpine meadows. With almost 1400 animals the population of the Kavkazsky reserve in the northern West Caucasus developed into the largest bison population worldwide. Due to the turmoil of the dissolution of the Soviet Union the population of 1400 animals decreased to 240 animals. The Caucasus Nature Reserve, which covers almost 300,000 hectares, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. The number of bison living in the wild in the highlands increased by around ten percent to 540 in 2010.
Release in the Chernobyl exclusion zone as of 1998
After it was noticed that other wild animals were reproducing in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, it was decided from 1998 to release bison there as well. After initial difficulties, there are now three herds with a total of 93 animals (as of 2012) of the lowland line in the Belarusian part of the Chernobyl exclusion zone, which are slowly reproducing.
Release into the wild in Slovakia 2004
On 10 December 2004, five bison, three cows and two bulls, were released into the wild in the Slovakian Poloniny National Park as part of the Large Herbivore Network project. Two weeks later, a wild bull from the directly adjacent Polish Bieszczady National Park joined the herd. (Both national parks together with the Ukrainian Usch National Park form the Eastern Carpathians Biosphere Reserve). In October 2005 another cow and a bull were released, and in September 2006 two cows. The first outdoor birth of a bison calf took place on 14 July 2006. The number of bison has grown over the years to 17, consisting of a 15-strong herd and two solitary bulls (as of 2013).
Release in Romania 2012
On 22 March 2012, five bison were released into the wild in the Vânători-Neamț Nature Park in north-eastern Romania (Neamț County) as part of the Rewilding Europe project. Another five animals were released in 2013.
Release in Germany 2013
See also: Wisent Wilderness
With the project bison in the Rothaargebirge, a herd of eight, consisting of a bull, five cows and two young animals, was released in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein on 11 April 2013. In December 2019, the herd had grown to about 25 animals. The herd had been living on site in an 80-acre reintroduction enclosure since March 2010. Among the scientific and legal requirements for the reintroduction, the fulfilment of which was checked during this time, was that a natural escape behaviour and a natural escape distance had to be achieved. At the end of December 2012, the State Ministry of the Environment in Düsseldorf then granted permission for the release into the wild. The herd was equipped with GPS transmitters for a transitional period of two to five years. All the animals in the herd belong to the lowland Caucasian lineage.
In May and June 2013, the first two bison in centuries were born in the wild in this herd in Germany. The herd stays less hidden than expected and was observed by hikers several times already in the first weeks after the release. In 2017, the bison were filmed crossing a snow-covered road. In December 2017, there was a collision with minor fender bender. In 2019, a compromise was reached with the forest owners. A fence that is permeable to other animals will initially limit the herd's habitat to an area of 1500 hectares for three to five years.
The number of bison living freely in Germany is currently 25 (as of December 2019) after further births and departures.
Apart from the Rothaargebirge, bison are currently being accustomed to life under near-natural conditions in the wilderness core zone of the Döberitzer Heide. In the wilderness core zone, which covers an area of about 2000 ha, the animals are supposed to live under near-wild conditions. However, the animals are widely fenced there.
Discussed further reintroduction projects
Swiss conservationists and zoologists led by Christian Stauffer, former head of the Zurich Wilderness Park, are discussing the reintroduction of bison in the Jura, or more precisely in the Thal Nature Park - where and in the vicinity of which lies one of Switzerland's largest contiguous forest areas, namely the northern slope of the Weissenstein range. The region itself hopes that this will attract more tourists. In June 2020, it was announced that a site near Sollmatt in Welschenrohr had been selected for this project. The main criterion was that the area should be as large as possible and belong to as few landowners as possible. Initially, five to ten animals will live in a 1 km² enclosure with both open and wooded zones for acclimatisation until they are released. The lead cow will be fitted with a transmitter collar; the fencing will be permeable to deer and other forest animals. Likewise, existing trails will pass through the fenced area.
In some European countries, reintroduction projects of the lowland bison are currently underway or being prepared, for example in the Netherlands (Veluwe and Maashorst), in Denmark (Almindingen on Bornholm) and in France (Monts d'Azur on the edge of the Maritime Alps), as well as in Azerbaijan (Shahdag National Park).
The reintroduction of bison (as well as red deer and wild horses) is also being discussed for the Borkenberge nature reserve near Haltern. This is a former British military training area of about 20 km² in area, with barren sandy soil. It is to be accessible to visitors and can be viewed from observation towers. It is hoped that - in addition to the tourist attraction - the large mammals will prevent the complete scrub encroachment of the landscape and restore a natural species composition.
In 2017, WWF Germany proposed ten areas that are particularly suitable as a habitat for bison as part of a study. The four most important of these are the Spreewald and its surroundings, the Müritz, the Harz and the Pfälzerwald. It is still open whether the animals will be deliberately resettled there or whether one will simply wait until they migrate again from the east.
In 2021, it was announced that bison would also be reintroduced to the Härtsfeld, a region of the Swabian Alb, on 35 ha of the Zwing nature reserve near Neresheim.
Immigration to Germany 2017
On 13 September 2017, for the first time since the extinction of the species in Germany, a bison migrated from Poland across the Oder River. The wild animal was pursued and shot two hours after its discovery on an embankment near Lebus in the floodplain by two local hunters, after they had obtained a telephone order to shoot it from the district director of Lebus under the pretext of an alleged immediate danger to life and limb. The head was cut off as a hunting trophy and taken to a taxidermist the following day. The bull had previously roamed western Poland for several years without an accident. Several private persons and associations - among others the WWF - filed criminal charges against the persons involved due to an alleged violation of the Federal Hunting Act. The investigation against the head of the public order office was discontinued in June 2018.
