European bisons

Reintroduction project aims to boost numbers and genetic diversity

A European bison born at the Highland Wildlife Park in Kingussie will be returned to the wild as part of a reintroduction project. The species became extinct in the wild less than 100 years ago.

The female bison arrived in Romania last week with six others from British and Irish herds at the Aspinall Foundation's Port Lympne Wild Animal Park. She was named Glen Rosa after the picturesque Highland glen on the Isle of Arran.

The animals will spend several weeks in a large enclosure in Romania before being released into the forest reserve to allow them to acclimatise.

Douglas Richardson, head of living collections at Highland Wildlife Park, said the bisons will join an established herd in Vanatori Neamt Nature Park, to help boost numbers and genetic diversity.

He explained: "As the breeding programme coordinator for European bison, my main tasks are to ensure that the captive programme remains robust and that animals are made available for projects like this, and as such I worked with the Aspinall Foundation to select animals from breeders of European bison within the UK and Ireland to support this reintroduction project."

The first captive-bred bison was reintroduced to the wild in 1952 and by 2012 the wild population had risen to more than 3,000.

Image courtesy of Highland Wildlife Park