Wild bison will be released into the Kent countryside today as part of a £1.2million project to ‘rewild’ Britain and help slow global warming.
These huge creatures, which can weigh over one tonne, are gone in the United States since 6,000 years.
Now it is hoped the European bison will help to revitalise ancient woodland and create an ‘explosion of biodiversity’.
Home on the range: Conservationists say a bison was photographed at Wildwood Trust, near Canterbury in Kent. The bison were being introduced to an ancient British forest to combat the climate crisis.
Yellowstone National Park in Montana, left: Bison herds.
Initially, one male and three female bison – a bull from Germany, a matriarch from Scotland and two youngsters from Ireland – are being introduced. They are expected to breed in the future and create a herd.
The European bison – the continent’s largest land mammal – are a close relative of the type that once roamed the UK, the extinct steppe bison. These bison are smaller than those of the American bison but they’re more heavy- and aggressive.
The animals are known as ‘eco-system engineers’, creating muddy ponds, pushing down trees and disturbing the soil to help plants and other animals thrive.
They will be put in large, fenced-off enclosures at West Blean Woods and Thornden Woods near Canterbury. Donovan Wright, who will look after their welfare in the former commercial pine plantation, said: ‘You get this ricochet effect through the ecosystem, so many species are able to benefit.’
Paul Whitfield, director-general of the Wildwood Trust, which is leading the project with the Kent Wildlife Trust, said: ‘They will create an explosion of biodiversity and build habitat resilience, locking in carbon to help reduce temperature rise. This will act as a huge catalyst for change.’
Evan Bowen-Jones, chief executive of Kent Wildlife Trust, added: ‘We need to revolutionise the way we restore natural landscapes – relying less on human intervention and more on natural engineers such as bison, boar and beaver.’