Editing European bison (section)

===Reintroduction===
[[File:Reserva CIBE.jpg|thumb|European bison reserve in [[Spain]], where a reintroduction programme in [[San Cebrián de Mudá]], [[Castile and León]] is in place.]]
[[File:Зубри у Сколівських Бескидах(3).jpg|thumb|Bison in [[Skole Beskids National Nature Park]], [[Stryi Raion]] in Ukraine]]

Beginning in 1951, European bison have been [[Reintroduction|reintroduced]] into the wild, including some areas where they were never found wild.<ref name="rwbz" /><ref>{{Cite book|title=European bison : status survey and conservation action plan|others=Pucek, Zdzisław,, Belousova, Irina P.,, Krasińska, Małgorzata. compiler., Krasiński, Zbigniew A., 1938–, Olech, Wanda,, IUCN/SSC Bison Specialist Group.|year=2004|isbn=2831707625|location=Gland|page=16|oclc=56807539|last1 = Belousova|first1 = Irina P.}}</ref> Free-ranging herds are currently found in Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, Slovakia,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eurowildlife.org/news/wisents-in-slovakia-the-population-has-increased-three-times-since-2004/|title=Wisents in Slovakia: the population has increased three times since 2004|publisher=[[European Wildlife]]|date=23 July 2013|access-date=23 July 2013|archive-date=22 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130822204656/http://www.eurowildlife.org/news/wisents-in-slovakia-the-population-has-increased-three-times-since-2004/|url-status=live}}</ref> Latvia, Switzerland, Kyrgyzstan, Germany,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dw.de/die-wisente-kehren-nach-deutschland-zur%C3%BCck/a-16248800|title=Die Wisente kehren nach Deutschland zurück – Wissen & Umwelt|date=11 April 2013|publisher=Deutsche Welle|access-date=12 April 2013|archive-date=12 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130412002952/http://www.dw.de//die-wisente-kehren-nach-deutschland-zur%C3%BCck//a-16248800|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330546518 |title=Spatio-temporal distribution of European bison (Bison bonasus L.) in Poloniny National Park, East Carpathians, Slovakia |year=2013 |doi=10.1007/s13364-013-0136-y |pmid=24244043 |accessdate=2021-12-28 |archive-date=28 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211228030337/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330546518_Spatio-temporal_distribution_of_European_bison_Bison_bonasus_L_in_Poloniny_National_Park_East_Carpathians_Slovakia |url-status=live |last1=Kowalczyk |first1=R. |last2=Krasińska |first2=M. |last3=Kamiński |first3=T. |last4=Górny |first4=M. |last5=Struś |first5=P. |last6=Hofman-Kamińska |first6=E. |last7=Krasiński |first7=Z. A. |journal=Acta Theriologica |volume=58 |issue=4 |pages=391–401 |pmc=3786093 }}</ref> and in [[Nature reserve|forest preserves]] in the [[Western Caucasus]].<!-- European bison are now found in the {{convert|30|km|mi|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} 30&nbsp;km [[Zone of alienation|exclusion zone]] around [[Chernobyl]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}}--> The Białowieża Primeval Forest, an [[ancient woodland]] that straddles the border between Poland and Belarus, continues to have the largest free-living European bison population in the world with around 1000 wild bison counted in 2014.<ref name=ostoja>{{cite web|url=https://bpn.com.pl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=106|title=Puszcza Białowieska ostoją żubrów|publisher=Białowieski Park Narodowy|date=2015|access-date=2 December 2019|archive-date=22 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922215230/https://bpn.com.pl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=106|url-status=live}}</ref> Herds have also been introduced in Moldova (2005),<ref>[http://www.iatp.md/arii/text/eng/pad_domn_bison.htm "Bison in the Republic of Moldova"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306122131/http://www.iatp.md/arii/text/eng/pad_domn_bison.htm |date=6 March 2009 }}, IATP</ref> Spain (2010),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.univision.com/contentroot/wirefeeds/world/8226775.shtml|title=El bisonte europeo se reimplanta en España|publisher=Univision.com|date=5 June 2010|access-date=16 January 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606191221/http://www.univision.com/contentroot/wirefeeds/world/8226775.shtml|archive-date=6 June 2011}}</ref> Denmark (2012),<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18355211|title=Denmark's Bornholm island gets rare bison from Poland|work=bbc.co.uk|date=7 June 2012|access-date=9 June 2012|archive-date=8 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120608201203/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18355211|url-status=live}}</ref> the Czech Republic (2014),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eurowildlife.org/news/the-way-to-the-wisents-rescue-in-europe-is-only-at-its-half/ |title=Wisent rescue in Europe is only at the half-way point |publisher=European WILDLIFE |date=13 January 2014 |access-date=4 February 2016 |archive-date=28 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150828174804/http://www.eurowildlife.org/news/the-way-to-the-wisents-rescue-in-europe-is-only-at-its-half/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and Portugal (2024)<ref name="rcb-radiocovadabeira.pt"/>

Reintroduction of bison to a 52 square km grasslands area in the [[Țarcu Mountains]] of Romania in 2014 was found to have resulted in an additional 54,000 tons of [[carbon]] draw-down annually.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-05-16 |title=How a Small Herd of Romanian Bison Is Locking Away Thousands of Tons of Carbon |url=https://e360.yale.edu/digest/romania-bison-carbon |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=Yale E360 |language=en-US}}</ref>

The Wilder Blean project, headed up by the Wildwood Trust and [[Kent Wildlife Trust]], introduced European bison to the UK [[Pleistocene rewilding|for the first time in 6000 years]] (although there was an unsuccessful attempt in Scotland in 2011,<ref name=AlladaleReserve>[[Alladale Wilderness Reserve]], [https://alladale.com/rewilding/european-bison/ European Bison - Bison bonasus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221023013802/https://alladale.com/rewilding/european-bison/ |date=23 October 2022 }}</ref> and the European bison is not confirmed to be native to England while the [[British Isles]] once used to be inhabited by now-extinct [[Steppe bison]] and [[Bison schoetensacki|Pleistocene woodland bison]]).<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Palacio |first1=Pauline |last2=Berthonaud |first2=Véronique |last3=Guérin |first3=Claude |last4=Lambourdière |first4=Josie |last5=Maksud |first5=Frédéric |last6=Philippe |first6=Michel |last7=Plaire |first7=Delphine |last8=Stafford |first8=Thomas |last9=Marsolier-Kergoat |first9=Marie-Claude |display-authors=2 |date=1 January 2017 |title=Genome data on the extinct Bison schoetensacki establish it as a sister species of the extant European bison (Bison bonasus) |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=17 |issue=1 |page=48 |bibcode=2017BMCEE..17...48P |doi=10.1186/s12862-017-0894-2 |issn=1471-2148 |pmc=5303235 |pmid=28187706 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="rwbz">{{Cite web|date=2022|title=Bison reintroduction & conservation|language=en|website=rewildingbritain.org.uk|publisher=Rewilding Britain|url=https://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/explore-rewilding/reintroductions-key-species/rewilding-superstars/european-bison?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqKXMzduF-QIVSuztCh0xnwUSEAAYASAAEgIaDvD_BwE|access-date=2022-07-19|archive-date=20 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220072859/https://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/reintroductions-key-species/key-species/european-bison|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=GrrlScientist|date=July 20, 2020|title=Bison To Return To British Woodland After Absence Of More Than Six Millennia|language=en|work=Forbes|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2020/07/20/bison-to-return-to-british-woodland-after-absence-of-more-than-six-millennia/|access-date=2020-07-21|archive-date=21 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721035507/https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2020/07/20/bison-to-return-to-british-woodland-after-absence-of-more-than-six-millennia/|url-status=live}}</ref> The herd of 3 females, with plans to also release a male in the following months, was set free in July 2022 within a 2,500-acre (10 square km) conservation area in [[West Blean and Thornden Woods]], near Canterbury.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2020-07-09|title=European bison to be introduced into Kent woodland|language=en-gb|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-53349929|access-date=2020-07-10|archive-date=10 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200710040653/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-53349929|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Chantler-Hicks|first=Lydia|date=2020-07-10|title=Bison to be introduced to Kent woodland|url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/canterbury/news/bison-to-be-introduced-to-kent-woodland-230138/|access-date=2020-07-11|work=Kent Online|language=en|archive-date=11 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711051437/https://www.kentonline.co.uk/canterbury/news/bison-to-be-introduced-to-kent-woodland-230138/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=18 July 2022 |title=Wilder Blean {{!}} Kent Wildlife Trust |url=https://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/wilderblean |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220718161153/https://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/wilderblean |archive-date=18 July 2022 |access-date=18 July 2022 |website=www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk}}</ref> Unknown to the rangers, one of the females was pregnant and gave birth to a calf in October 2022, marking the first wild bison born in the UK for the first time in millennia.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-21 |title=First wild bison born in UK for millennia after surprise pregnancy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/21/first-wild-bison-born-in-uk-for-millennia-after-surprise-pregnancy |access-date=2022-10-25 |website=the Guardian |language=en |archive-date=25 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025150613/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/21/first-wild-bison-born-in-uk-for-millennia-after-surprise-pregnancy |url-status=live }}</ref> In winter 2023, the matriarch of the herd gave birth to a male calf. A further two female calves were born at the site in October 2024.<ref>{{cite web |title=Welcome “two” the herd |url=https://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/welcome-two-herd |website=Kent Wildlife Trust}}</ref> In January 2025, the project was recognised as one of [[The Big Issue]]’s top Changemakers of 2025.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wilder Blean Bison Project recognised as a 2025 Changemaker by Big Issue |url=https://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/changemaker |website=Kent Wildlife Trust |access-date=30 January 2025}}</ref>

As below-mentioned, there are established herds in [[Spain]], [[Portugal]] and [[Italy]], however European bison has not been recorded naturally from the [[Italian Peninsula]]s,<ref name=Euskomedia /> while these regions were once inhabited by Pleistocene woodland bison and Steppe bison.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Thun Hohenstein|first1=Ursula|last2=Di Nucci|first2=Annarosa|last3=Moigne|first3=Anne-Marie|date=January 2009|title=Mode de vie à Isernia La Pineta (Molise, Italie). Stratégie d'exploitation du Bison schoetensacki par les groupes humains au Paléolithique inférieur|url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0003552109000107|journal=L'Anthropologie|language=fr|volume=113|issue=1|pages=96–110|doi=10.1016/j.anthro.2009.01.009|access-date=24 October 2022|archive-date=18 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818025219/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0003552109000107|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>P. Bologna, C. Petronio, 1994, ''The first occurrence of Bison priscus Bojanus in the Melpignano area (Lecce, southern Italy)'', Bollettino—Societa Paleontologica Italiana, vol. 33, no. 2, pp.275–278</ref><ref>Jone Castaños, Pedro Castaños, Xabier Murelaga, 2016, ''First Complete Skull of a Late Pleistocene Steppe Bison ( Bison priscus ) in the Iberian Peninsula'', [[Ameghiniana]], 53(5), pp.543-551</ref>