European bison  (Bison bonasus)

With the advance of agriculture, vast tracts of the European bison's habitat were lost and their range became massively restricted (5). These animals were also persecuted by hunting and in 1927 the species finally became Extinct in the Wild (5). Re-introductions of the bison to some of its former range have proved extremely successful and, due to the natural low mortality of the species, it has even been necessary to cull some populations in order to manage them effectively (5).

The protection of the European bison has a long history; between the 15th and 18th Century those in the Forest of Bialowieza were protected and their diet supplemented (3). Efforts to restore this species to the wild began in 1948 with the establishment of the Bison Breeding Centre within the Prioksko-Terrasny Biosphere Reserve (8). Re-introductions of captive-bred individuals to this area began in the 1950s and the herds have grown successfully (3); re-introductions to date have occurred in Belarus, Poland, Russia and the Ukraine (5). The aim of the Bison Specialist Group of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) is to establish a total free-ranging population of around 6,000 animals from two different lineages (4). The re-introduction of the European bison represents a remarkable conservation success story.