Here's How The European Bison Will Transform the UK

this is the mighty european bison the largest land mammal on the continent and it's now back in the uk so this year on the 18th of july shortly after 7am three females step foot onto kentish soil as part of a project that will demonstrate the benefits that bison can bring to an ecosystem and it's this pioneering project at wilderbling which we will look at in detail but not before understanding their ecology and their tragic history which saw them extinct from the wild during the 1920s and i'm hearing ken at wilderbling to tell you all about the project and who knows maybe even catch a glimpse of the bison through the trees but first if you're new here my name is rob and this is leave curious where we create content about rewilding here in britain so if that sounds like something you're into be sure to subscribe the european bison is an ecosystem engineer which means their presence and actions greatly alters the ecosystem where they are found i mean i'd be surprised if they didn't given the sheer size of them 3 meters long 2 meters tall and around 600 kilograms to maintain this size they graze grasses they browse trees shrubs stripping bark of trees an adult male can eat a whopping 32 kilograms of vegetation a day during summer and yes they are strictly herbivores it would be kind of terrifying if they did eat me but european bison also have some interesting habits wallowing is one which is basically rolling around in the dirt they create clearings through dense undergrowth sometimes knocking down entire treats as they rub their enormous bodies against them this may seem like chaos like damage however this is biodiversity rocket fuel this level of disturbance creates numerous opportunities for life to flourish new plants can grow in a clearing a woodpecker can nest in a decaying bark strip tree insects can make themselves at home in a huge pile of bison dung seeds can be dispersed in that dump structural diversity being created from the ground up and it's all of these impacts that get us so excited about the bison project here in the uk but before we get into the project i just want to touch briefly on their history it's important to know that the european bison nearly didn't make it being declared extinct from the wild by 1927 due to sustained pressures and persecution from man which was ramified during the first world war as german soldiers shot and killed 600 bison leaving only nine left in one of the two very small and remaining isolated populations eventually there were only 50 bison left in zoos and it was only the work from breeding programs and then a release of two bison in 1952 to forrester poland ensured they didn't go completely extinct let's get into the project here in the uk it's been run by the kent wildlife trust and the wildwood trust getting a donation of over a million pounds from the postcode dream fund back in july 2020 this was a huge step which enabled the project to really get going so the bison had been released to the county of kent in the southeast of the uk they're in an ancient woodland located in west blee and thornland woods so three bison have been reintroduced a matriarch from the highland wildlife park in scotland and two younger females from photo wildlife park in cork and male will be joining them very soon one of the key drivers in starting the project is to increase biodiversity but also to show that the resulting habitat the bison crate is one that can sequester and store more carbon have healthier soils richer plant life and better nutrient cycling compared to current uk woodland systems they also want to create a safe place for the public to come and experience nature but crucially it's about setting an example documenting monitoring and showcasing these positive impacts so that one day we'll see more bison across the uk while walking through the woods i started to think how would i feel if i stumbled across them i'd definitely be excited but would i feel threatened or in danger let me know how you would feel having bison in your local woods the bison are being kept within a controlled fenced area however the aim is to just leave them to it and observe they're being tracked in real time using gps collars there are two bison ranges don and tom who work closely with the bison but since the conception of the project now and as it continues on there has been numerous others from the wildlife trust wildwood trust and various partners canterbury christchurch university the natural history museum and the university of huddersfield to name just a few the work includes storing and analyzing soil samples pond and dung monitoring as well as the gut health of the bison so of course a key element to the overall success of this project is monitoring before the bison were introduced baseline data was taken understanding what wildlife is present what the vegetation and soil look like wool and vegetation and extents have been captured with a drone it's equipped with two sensors that enable not only a three-dimensional image to be established of the woodland but also one that detects specific wavelengths of colour enabling information on vegetation collar abundance and soil types to name only a few this extensive monitoring is being applied to three areas of woodland with each experiencing a different level of disturbance from grazers one area will have the bison who will soon be joined by exmoor ponies and iron age pigs the second area will have longhorn castle with the pigs and ponies and the third will have no grazing animals at all the work so far has revealed some sighting discoveries from nightingales in the trees to over 178 different species of spider some critically rare and not seen for many years getting the animal as big as a bison widespread will take a lot of work to educate and prepare but this project looks like a great first step over on patreon i'm working on a new video series that's all about getting you involved with rewilding exploring how to make use of your space whether if you have an apartment balcony a suburban garden or a farm in the countryside also looking at the many other ways to connect with nature through career paths volunteering education and projects you can start links to this is on the screen now but in the meantime thank you so much for watching leave curious [Music]

Channel: Leave Curious

Views: 78,029

Keywords: european bison, rewilding britain

Id: JNcH-PG5LTs

Length: 5min 51sec (351 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 24 2022