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European Bison (Bison bonasus) - Current state of the species and strategy for its conservation (Nature and Environment No. 141) (2004)
The European bison is a survivor. At the start of the 20th century it had vanished from nature and only a few specimens remained in European zoological gardens. Hundred years later, a few populations have been successfully established in the wild and an extinction has been avoided. Yet monitoring its populations in human-managed ecosystems is far from simple. The present strategy makes useful suggestion for a long-term conservation of this magnificent species, the largest terrestrial mammal of Europe.
Preface
1. Executive summary
2. Introduction
3. Conservation status
4. Origin of the European bison
5. Taxonomy
6. Genetic structure of the species
7. Origin and genetic characteristics of breeding lines
8. Hybrids of European bison
9. Distribution
10. World population number
11. Biology and population ecology
12. Actual and potential threats
13. Research needs
14. Conservation strategy and recommended actions
15. References
The European bison is a survivor. At the start of the 20th century it had vanished from nature and only a few specimens remained in European zoological gardens. Hundred years later, a few populations have been successfully established in the wild and an extinction has been avoided. Yet monitoring its populations in human-managed ecosystems is far from simple. The present strategy makes useful suggestion for a long-term conservation of this magnificent species, the largest terrestrial mammal of Europe.