Wisent rescue in Europe is only at the half-way point
The wisent population in Europe has been growing over the last few years. The road to this species rescue will be long, though. „For the safety of the European bison population, it is very important to increase the population number to the level of 10,000 individuals. The current size of the population amounts to the level of half of the required state, so a lot of challenges are still in front of us. Each herd, for which the required conditions of living are fulfilled is very valuable, especially when it concerns the free living herd,“ stated Wanda Olech, President of European Bison Friends Society.
At present in the world there are about 4,500 wisents, approximately three thousand animals thereof living in the wild and in semi-wild farms. A new, wild living population is to come into being in the Czech Republic this year. Wanda Olech and her team observed the locality planned for the reintroduction yesterday.
„The information about the implementation of reintroduction plans of European bison in the Czech Republic is accepted by us with great pleasure. We will support this important and necessary initiative. Because of our common initiatives taken in the past, cooperation with our Czech colleagues will be fruitful,“ add Wanda Olech.
The conservation organization European Wildlife obtained a herd of the first five wisents in Poland in the past few days. This year the animals will be released under the reintroduction project in the Czech Republic. The breeding group composed of one male and four females was obtained from Poland.
„The Czech Republic has very suitable conditions for the formation of a free living wisent population. There are at least four areas convenient for the reintroduction of this kind. We believe we will manage to realize our project of wisent return, with the first of them this year,“ stated Dalibor Dostal, the Director of European Wildlife conservation organization.
