This Monday, the Netherlands witnessed the start of a new bison grazing project. The first four animals were released in the Maashorst nature reserve in the south-eastern part of the country (Province of Noord-Brabant) where ultimately a starting herd of of 11 animals will roam a landscape of at least 1,500 hectares of forests, grasslands, shrubs and sand dunes. The animals are all part of the European Wildlife Bank.
During the bison monitoring conducted by the bison rangers in the Southern Carpathians last week, four of the 30 bison in Armeniș were found dead. The weakest bison in the herd were outcast by the rest of the group and as a result they became more vulnerable to predators. At least two of them were attacked by a pack of stray dogs that formed in the area.
Dave and Anna, two environmentalists from the United Kingdom, started their “Biking for Rewilding” tour in April 2015 after leaving their office jobs and taking off on an adventure with a purpose. The 4,000 km cycling tour led them through seven European countries, where they visited seven rewilding areas. The final two destinations were Wisent Welt and the Palatinate Forest Biosphere Reserve in Germany, members of the European Rewilding Network (ERN).
Dave and Anna, two environmentalists from the United Kingdom, started their “biking for rewilding” tour in April 2015 after leaving their office jobs and taking off on an adventure with a purpose. In this fourth blog you can read about their visit to the European bison project in the Kraansvlak area along the Dutch coast. This project is one of the first members of the European Rewilding Network (ERN). It was here, where Dave and Anna met the spectacular European bison in nature for the first time in their life.
The European Commission has approved the LIFE proposal “Urgent actions for the recovery of European Bison populations in Romania”, developed by Rewilding Europe and WWF Romania to support the reintroduction of the European bison into the Tarçu Mountains Natura 2000 site in the Southern Carpathians rewilding landscape. The funding will be used to build a viable population of European bison in this area, by releasing in total 100 animals in the coming five years.
Ten days ago, one of the females from the founder herd of the European bison roaming the Tarcu Mountains for over a year now, gave birth to a healthy calf. The now 7-year-old female bison arrived in the Southern Carpathians rewilding area in Romania in May 2014 as part of the reintroduction and rewilding initiative led by Rewilding Europe and WWF-Romania.
When I heard that Rhodope Mountains have become the seventh Rewilding Europe’s area, the very first thought that crossed my mind was “Rhodopes cannot go any wilder”. I have always considered Rhodope Mountains as wildlife heaven due to the relatively small, even negligible human disturbance. Few months later as a Rewilding Europe volunteer, I set out on a journey to find out what can make the Rhodopes wilder than the wild place I last visited before.
Last Wednesday marked the birth of the first bison calf in the Rhodope Mountains rewilding area. European bison arrived to the Studen Kladenets Reserve in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains in Bulgaria at the end of October 2013. The newborn bison calf is healthy, in good condition and well accepted by its parents.
Rewilding Europe is delighted to receive financial support from the Toyota Fund for Europe for working in the Southern Carpathians and Velebit rewilding areas.
The Oder Delta, straddling the border area of Poland and Germany on the Baltic Sea coast, has today officially become part of the Rewilding Europe initiative. After three years of intensive preparations with many different authorities and stakeholders, four organisations agreed to start working together to put the area on the European map as an inspiring example of rewilding, for the benefit of both people and nature. An event held today in Tanowo on the Polish side, with many local partners and stakeholders present, marked the start of this initiative.