They are not easy to observe but their passage is immortalized by the camera traps installed in the forest and by some traces of hooves in the mud.
The European Bisons, these large hairy mammals which had almost disappeared, are gradually making their return to Europe.
In the Romanian Carpathians, the first animals arrived in 2014. Today there are 105 bison living in freedom thanks to transfers and reproduction of the species.
“There was an urgent need to give the bison the chance to live in the wild again and to mix the genes of these bison from captivity,” explains Matei Miculescu.
This is how our project began ”exclaims the forest ranger.
“For two years, there has been no mortality in their ranks,” welcomes Marina Druga, the person in charge of this project jointly carried out by WWF and Rewilding Europe.
The goal is to have a herd of 250 animals within five years.
Read also VIDEO.
In Louveciennes, a retirement home ... for cats!
The repopulation of the bison not only benefits this animal but a whole complex ecosystem: 600 animals thus benefit from its reintroduction. “Bison, which each consume 60 kg of grass per day, modify the landscape, change the architecture of forests by stopping the development of invasive trees, scatter the seeds of hundreds of plants or create trails through the woods, facilitating access to food for small animals, explains Marina Druga.
If they are weak or sick, they can also fall prey to wolves or bears, which no longer have to look for food near homes ”.
Even the smallest animals benefit from the presence of the mammal.
"The birds collect the hairs lost by the bison to isolate their nests" describes Matei Miculescu, the ranger and the "frogs use the prints left by their hooves to jump from one puddle to another".