​Zimbrii Guardians: A Conservation Tale

5th February 2017
Written by Wilson Vieira

European Bison (Bison bosanus) in Zimbraria Neagra, Romania. Photo credit: Wilson Vieira

Walking through the cracking and soft snow, Daniel points towards the forest: “Mistretul” he says. A group of wild boars runs into the woods as we approach. We stop to watch the animals foraging and disappearing in the sheltering forest. After travelling all day to reach the mountain, this is our first encounter with wildlife on the reserve. The winter silence seems to hide animals better than the bushes and leaves of spring. However, there was a reason for coming to this place. Another encounter is waiting further ahead. After a couple of minutes walking, closer to the observation point, Daniel stops again and looking at me says: “Zimbii means bison in Romanian”. I was looking at one of the most successful conservation tales in the old continent.
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Daniel is a guard at the Zimbraria Neagra, a reservation of European bisons (Bison bosanus) 30 km away from the city of Targoviste, in Southern Romania. Here, he supervises a group of 40 animals living on the country’s largest reservation center of the species. The European bison is the largest native mammal and grazer in Europe. The species is known to inhabit Europe since the early Holocene period, approximately 11,700 years ago. During the mid-Holocene, these animals roamed throughout the continent, ranging from France in the West to Ukraine and Belarus in the East. It is likely that European bison were hunted by humans for thousands of years, and became extinct in the 19th century. Excessive hunting and warfare were certainly the major factors for the disappearance of the species, with the last populations vanishing from Poland in 1919 and from the Caucasus in 1927.

​Fortunately, by the time of its extinction in the wild, a small amount of captive animals was being kept in zoos. In 1923, Jan Sztolcman, a polish zoologist, presented the idea of using the captive animals to bring back wild populations of European bisons. At the same time, the Society for the Protection of the European Bison was created with the main objective of guaranteeing the genetic purity of the species. Several animals kept in zoos were hybrids between European and American bisons (Bison bison) or between European bison and domestic cattle. Thus, one major accomplishment of the society was the creation of the European Bison Pedigree Book (EBPB), a studbook that assessed for the first time all the European bisons in the world, allowing the hybrids to be separated from the pure-blood bisons, to be selected for breeding programs. The creation of bison breeding centers and breeding programs in parks and zoos all over Europe was the first step on the comeback of the species. The first reintroduction of European bison happened in 1952 in Poland’s Białowieża Forest, one of the last and largest remaining primeval forests in Europe. Other countries followed suit, such as Ukraine, Slovakia, and Romania, among others, which started their own reintroduction initiatives. Today, it is possible to find at least 3,000 free-ranging European bisons in countries that were part of their historic distribution in Belarus, Poland, Lithuania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Ukraine and Romania.
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The first bisons to arrive in Romania were released in 2012 in the Vanatoria Neamt Nature Park. This park is located in the Carpathians, a mountain chain that stretches from the Serbian-Bulgarian borders, through the mountains of Romania, Ukraine and into the mountains at the border with Slovakia, Czech Republic and Poland. The Carpathians are seen by some specialists as being of great importance to the European bison reintroduction since these mountains provide a corridor of natural habitat across its core distribution range. After the comeback of the species to this country, WWF-Romania, in partnership with Rewilding Europe, created the Bison Rewilding Plan 2014-2024. This program intends to annually reintroduce groups of free-living animals in potentially suitable areas for the bison in the Southern Carpathians. In 2014, 17 animals were reintroduced in the Tarcu Mountains, followed by two other reintroductions in 2015 and 2016 in the same area. The objective is to have 500 individuals by 2024 in what is considered to have the potential to be the largest European bison population in Europe. Along with Tarcu Mountains, Poiana Rusca Mountains and Vanatoria Neamt are also considered suitable reintroduction areas for long-term free-roaming populations of European bison.

​Romania  also owns 4 different bison reservation centers all over the country. Hateg Bison reserve was the first breeding center to be created in the country with the objective to breed animals that would be reintroduced and to raise public awareness to the importance of bisons in the ecosystem. Along with Hateg reservation, Vama Buzauliu in Brasov County, Dragos Voda reservation in Vanatoria Neamt and Neagra reservation play similar roles in the protection of the species, while also giving people the opportunity to have a closer look at this remarkable species.

Despite all efforts to bring this species back from the brink of extinction, European bisons are still assessed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 

Their small population size associated with diseases and hibridization with cattle still poses a significant threat. Habitat fragmentation also plays a role on the survival of the species, as the animals are being reintroduced at higher altitudes, instead of more profitable habitats as valleys due to the large human population at lower altitudes. However, this story brings more hope than despair. The European bison is not only the biggest grazer in Europe, but is also important to the health of the ecosystems where it is found, and is considered an umbrella-species. It is also part of this country and its history. In the coat of arms of Romania, an animal caught my attention. A bull-shaped head, that some argue to be a bison, lays side by side with other three animals. Certainly, throughout human history, European bison has played an important role, both as a resource and as a symbol. This is happening even now, with Romanians being proud of having this charismatic animal roaming in their forests again.
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Later on that same day, looking through Daniel binoculars’, I saw the bisons coming from the nearby forest to feed on the hay that was left on the forest glade. Daniel explained that the bisons hide in the forest to shelter from the cold. Looking at this small herd, surrounded by naked trees and snow, it is easy to imagine that once, huge herds roamed all over the plains and valleys of the continent. Looking at the history of this species which was brought back from the brink of extinction, I like to imagine the herds of these magnificent animals growing, and spreading throughout the mountains of Eastern Europe in the near future.

Check out European Bison Conservation Centre for more information on the conservation of this species.

All photos in this article are credited to the author, Wilson Vieira.