- This topic has 26 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 2024-12-11 at 10:18 by .
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Posts
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Helen
- Seville
The constant bickering and infighting by the people involved in this project and the critics/supporters is a bit boring now… (Re) introduction, introduction, invasive species… ufffff… They are arguing about a creature that went extinct around the time the paintings were being created in Altamira for goodness sake…
I guess if landowners with enough space want to have bison then what’s the issue? The placing of this animal here though in such small numbers and in restricted (fenced in) areas is not going to affect forest fire threat or habitat control is it?
Breathe and try to be nice to people 🙂
Carl
Helen, I totally agree with you…….
The saga continues with this article in El Páis…
Dave
I am sure all this is also about the meat and hunting value… Sorry but it just doesn’t make all that much sense because a mammal of this size is simply not going to be viable wandering around in herds across Spain…
https://latitudes.es/exoticos/entrecot-de-bisonte-racion-200-gr-aprox/
At almost 100 euros a kilo I can see why…….
I am sure that the rewilding guys have the best intentions and arguments. But I just don’t get it….
Living the dream!
Carl
A notice from Fernando Wisent Moran Castillo on the facebook page of Bisonte Europeo en España. Centro de Conservación (They don’t seem to have a website!)
The World Congress of the European Bison was recently held, mostly still in online format. There is a substantial change this year. I have been attending this congress since 2007 and for the first time the clamor, the focus, the presentations, the concerns and finally, everything, revolved around management instead of conservation.
The species, in this year 2021 more than presumably, will exceed 10,000 individuals and now more than ever management is necessary. It is no longer a race for more bison, but for specie to live in the wildest and most natural possible way … and obviously on a continent (Europe) where many humans live and make multiple uses of the territory, economic or leisure uses.
This is a great achievement for the species and for those few who have spent years working to achieve it. The growth data, as in any species when numbers start to grow, begins to take flight exponentially and there are large areas of Eastern Europe where they are expanding and forming populations of hundreds, which will soon reach thousands.
For our part, we are proud of our grain of sand in Spain despite the complications, debate and doubts that this species generates, mostly among administrations since society is clearly in favor, although we continue to think that the European Bison is a great opportunity for Spain in those abandoned places of extensive livestock (increasingly, sadly) as a firefighter against fires, an umbrella species to increase biodiversity, open spaces for grass and herbivores, restore natural processes and with a first-rate ecotourism potential.
Some day those abandoned and forgotten rural councils may realize this. Hopefully sooner rather than later.https://www.facebook.com/groups/214786951865760/posts/4770273386317071/
clive
- Grazalema
Fantastic video of a herd of European bison (Bison bonasus) running through the forest in Belarus…. With this one can appreciate the good they do for the forest floor!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij1TzOnsT7M
Take a trip on the Wildside!
https://wildsideholidays.co.uk (Wildlife and nature holidays in Spain)
https://grazalemaguide.com/ (All my web projects in one portal and everything you need to know about Grazalema)
Helen
- Seville
A really informative article has been published on the Mossy Earth website. It details the last couple of years observations about the project in Andujar, Andalucia…
Setting the scene of the bison’s release
One such exciting endeavour recently took place in the wild Andalusian region of Spain, right in front of my eyes.In autumn 2020, bison from different localities in the species’ stronghold of Poland were released into the private property ‘El Encinarejo’, loosely translated to ‘The Oak tree valley’. The roughly 1,000 hectare fenced finca directly neighbours the Sierra de Andújar Natural Park. Its rolling landscape offers sweeping views over this characteristic Mediterranean treasure that has been one of the prime homelands of the highly endangered Iberian lynx. Here, native Stone pine trees alternate with evergreen Holm oaks. There is an abundance of Olive and Strawberry tree.
Read the article here: https://mossy.earth/rewilding-knowledge/the-power-of-bison
Breathe and try to be nice to people 🙂
Dave
A baby bison was born in Jerez zoo recently…..
Living the dream!
Helen
- Seville
Hello!
The finca where you can see bison is here: https://elencinarejo.com/
It looks so fantastic but at 300 euros a night per person its way out of my pocket range. Still, the website is fantastic and one can always dream I suppose 🙂
Breathe and try to be nice to people 🙂
clive
- Grazalema
Where to see Bison in Spain?
There are a few places now to see Bison in Spain. Read on! https://wildsideholidays.co.uk/european-bison-bison-bonasus-bisonte-europeo/
Take a trip on the Wildside!
https://wildsideholidays.co.uk (Wildlife and nature holidays in Spain)
https://grazalemaguide.com/ (All my web projects in one portal and everything you need to know about Grazalema)
Miguel
- Cádiz
They just had three new young In the Sierra de Andujar! 🙂 https://www.eldiadecordoba.es/sociedad/Sierra-Andujar-nacimiento-bisontes-andujar_0_1847515477.html
El nacimiento de tres crÃas de bisonte en la Sierra de Andújar (Jaén) ha confirma este espacio como un lugar idóneo para la conservación de esta especie. El proyecto arrancó en noviembre de 2020 con la llegada de 18 ejemplares procedentes de Polonia. Durante estos tres años, los animales se han adaptado al terreno hasta el punto de que se ha logrado cerrar el cÃrculo con el reciente nacimiento de tres crÃas de bisontes. De esta forma, la Sierra de Andújar acoge a una nueva especie que campa a sus anchas por más de 1.000 hectáreas acotadas.
Asà lo ha indicado uno de los responsables del proyecto y también del Centro de Conservación en España del bisonte europeo, Fernando Morán, que ha subrayado que los bisontes llevan ya tres años en la finca privada de El Encinarejo, en pleno corazón de la Sierra de Andújar, y ha sido ahora cuando están “perfectamente aclimatados” cuando se ha logrado su reproducción con el nacimiento de tres crÃas –dos machos y una hembra– que se encuentran “estupendamente”
Helen
- Seville
Thanks Miguel! Here is a google translation.
The birth of three bison calves in the Sierra de Andújar (Jaén) has confirmed this space as an ideal place for the conservation of this species. The project started in November 2020 with the arrival of 18 specimens from Poland. During these three years, the animals have adapted to the terrain to the point that the circle has been closed with the recent birth of three bison calves. In this way, the Sierra de Andújar welcomes a new species that roams freely over more than 1,000 delimited hectares.
This has been indicated by one of those responsible for the project and also by the Conservation Center in Spain for the European bison, Fernando Morán, who has stressed that the bison have been on the private property of El Encinarejo for three years, in the heart of the Sierra de Andújar, and it was now when they are “perfectly acclimatized” that their reproduction has been achieved with the birth of three offspring – two males and one female – who are “doing wonderfully”
Breathe and try to be nice to people 🙂
clive
- Grazalema
And the Bison saga continues…. “For ecological, bioclimatic, legal and ethical reasons, the introduction of the European bison in Spain is a case that exceeds the limits of reasonable rewilding. It will not restore any lost habitat or contribute to slowing climate change, as the promoters of these projects suggest.” This is what 40 researchers from different scientific institutions and nine countries conclude in a new article.
These projects are sold as “rewilding”, but in reality they do not meet this objective.
It has not been proven that the European bison ever inhabited the Peninsula. If it were introduced, it will be unable to survive without human assistance.
The Altamira bison are a distinct and extinct prehistoric species. It lived in a habitat that also does not exist today: the “mammoth steppe”.
Reference:
Carlos Nores et al. Rewilding through inappropriate species introduction: The case of European bison in Spain. Conservation Science and Practice. Full article here: https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/csp2.13221
Take a trip on the Wildside!
https://wildsideholidays.co.uk (Wildlife and nature holidays in Spain)
https://grazalemaguide.com/ (All my web projects in one portal and everything you need to know about Grazalema)
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