Wild European bison to return to UK

[Still Waters]

Bison will be introduced to UK woodland to restore an ancient habitat and its wildlife, conservationists have said.

The £1m project, led by Kent Wildlife Trust and the Wildwood Trust, is aimed at helping to manage Blean Woods near Canterbury.

A wild herd of European bison, the continent's largest land mammal, will be in their new home by spring 2022.

The breed is the closest living relative to ancient steppe bison, which once roamed Britain.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-53349929

https://news.sky.com/story/bison-to-be-introduced-into-uk-woodland-and-theyll-have-a-job-to-do-12025120

[Piney]

There was a Eastern forest bison species here in North America. We dug one up as far out as the tip of Cape May. They were smaller that the plains bison. 

[Swede]

8 hours ago, Piney said:

There was a Eastern forest bison species here in North America. We dug one up as far out as the tip of Cape May. They were smaller that the plains bison. 

You may wish to look into some of the relatively recent work by Chris Widga. His research indicates that the Woodland/Eastern bison is not a separate species, but rather an environmentally-related variation of the same species as the Plains bison.

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[bison]

The Wisent  almost wasn't.

[Piney]

2 hours ago, Swede said:

You may wish to look into some of the relatively recent work by Chris Widga. His research indicates that the Woodland/Eastern bison is not a separate species, but rather an environmentally-related variation of the same species as the Plains bison.

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Everything I have is carbonized and untestable. But I would like to find something that isn't for a breakdown. 

[micahc]

I think they are just American tourist.

[thedutchiedutch]

Nice. I hope it will be successful. In 1982 the Dutch added about 10 Scottish Highlanders to their National Park "Hoge Veluwe" in the Netherlands and it turned out to be a great success for the forest and the heath land. Today there are 170 of them grazing away in freedom in the park that's about 13,343 acres in size 

Quote

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Edited July 11, 2020 by thedutchiedutch

[Matt221]

i saw my first ever Dormouse in Blean woods............bit random

[Swede]

22 hours ago, Piney said:

Everything I have is carbonized and untestable. But I would like to find something that isn't for a breakdown. 

Would again recommend Widga. He is well published and his dissertation is quite informative.

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[Swede]

4 hours ago, Matt221 said:

i saw my first ever Dormouse in Blean woods............bit random

Glis Glis (the edible Dormouse)?

A small, isolated population of Glis glis also exists in south-east England. At the turn of the 20th century, the British banker and zoologist Lionel Walter Rothschild kept Glis glis in his private collection in the town of Tring in Hertfordshire; in 1902 some of the animals escaped and reproduced, establishing themselves in the wild as an invasive species. Today, the British edible dormouse population is thought to be 10,000 strong, and Glis glis have been recorded in an 25-kilometre (16-mile) radius of Tring, mostly concentrated to the south and east. The area of distribution has been described as 200-square-mile (520 km²) triangle between Beaconsfield, Aylesbury, and Luton, around the southeast side of the Chiltern Hills.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edible_dormouse

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[openozy]

On 7/10/2020 at 8:55 PM, Still Waters said:

A wild herd of European bison, the continent's largest land mammal, will be in their new home by spring 2022.

I can't see the point,they will have to be culled with no natural predators to keep the numbers down and the bison healthy and disease free.They went extinct there for a reason and I can't see wolves being welcomed in rural UK.

[Matt221]

13 hours ago, Swede said:

Glis Glis (the edible Dormouse)?

A small, isolated population of Glis glis also exists in south-east England. At the turn of the 20th century, the British banker and zoologist Lionel Walter Rothschild kept Glis glis in his private collection in the town of Tring in Hertfordshire; in 1902 some of the animals escaped and reproduced, establishing themselves in the wild as an invasive species. Today, the British edible dormouse population is thought to be 10,000 strong, and Glis glis have been recorded in an 25-kilometre (16-mile) radius of Tring, mostly concentrated to the south and east. The area of distribution has been described as 200-square-mile (520 km²) triangle between Beaconsfield, Aylesbury, and Luton, around the southeast side of the Chiltern Hills.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edible_dormouse

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I heard that Glis Glis are around that area the one i saw was a "common" Dormouse still a good sighting i thought

[Swede]

On 7/12/2020 at 4:18 AM, openozy said:

I can't see the point,they will have to be culled with no natural predators to keep the numbers down and the bison healthy and disease free.They went extinct there for a reason and I can't see wolves being welcomed in rural UK.

Should culling be needed, this need not be looked at as a negative. Accredited hunters paying license fees that go to resource management, healthy and tasty meat supplies going to the hunters or to local food shelves, components such as horns and tanned hides becoming valuable, marketable commodities, etc.

Game management practices are not a new concept.

.

[openozy]

11 hours ago, Swede said:

Should culling be needed, this need not be looked at as a negative. Accredited hunters paying license fees that go to resource management, healthy and tasty meat supplies going to the hunters or to local food shelves, components such as horns and tanned hides becoming valuable, marketable commodities, etc.

Game management practices are not a new concept.

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I have nothing against culling animals as I'm a hunter myself.It's not like natural culling from predators though, where the weak,injured and diseased animals are removed,improving the health of the herd.Hunters tend to target the best examples which are the healthy ones,leaving the weaker animals to breed.

Edited July 14, 2020 by openozy

[Swede]

11 hours ago, openozy said:

I have nothing against culling animals as I'm a hunter myself.It's not like natural culling from predators though, where the weak,injured and diseased animals are removed,improving the health of the herd.Hunters tend to target the best examples which are the healthy ones,leaving the weaker animals to breed.

A valid point. That said, one then gets into the complexities of wildlife management. For example:

It could be argued that regular hunting seasons have the same effect on the population "demographics". In the absence of major predators, the infirm eventually expire and are utilized by lower pyramid scavengers.

We also get into the issue of managing predators due to their negative impact on important game species. Just one case in point: With the increased use of game cameras and the growth of the coyote population we have ample evidence of coyotes taking young O. virginianus fawns. Not old, weak, injured, or diseased, simply young.

Hypothetically, a bison cull could be at least partially structured to remove less optimal individuals. Somewhat akin to a rather more sophisticated CWD control methodology.

One could go on, but we digress from the initial topic. Good luck on your upcoming hunts.

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[Myles]

Pretty cool.   Bummer that they have to fence in such a large plot of land (1200 acres).  

[openozy]

4 hours ago, Swede said:

Hypothetically, a bison cull could be at least partially structured to remove less optimal individuals.

Yeah I think the culling would have to be undertaken by wildlife officials with different motives to some hunters.

 

4 hours ago, Swede said:

Good luck on your upcoming hunts.

Thanks,I only hunt feral animals here,rabbits,pigs to preserve our native wildlife and help landholders with pest species.

[openozy]

3 hours ago, Myles said:

Pretty cool.   Bummer that they have to fence in such a large plot of land (1200 acres).  

Sort of like a big zoo but that's the way it's getting everywhere,one reason it is pointless in a way, imo.

[Still Waters]

Update:

‘Gentle giants’: rangers prepare for return of wild bison to UK

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/11/gentle-giants-rangers-prepare-return-wild-bison-uk