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A new video from the three-day filming of European bison in Białowieża Forest is out! But let's take it one step at a time. The bison is one of the symbols of European nature conservation, so let's briefly talk about this wonderful species first.
Bison, like many other animals, have suffered from human expansion in the past. Herds of bison had roamed Europe for around 10,000 years, helping to shape its landscape until man came along and killed all the bison in the wild. In Białowieża, Poland, the last wild bison was shot in February 1919. At that time, there were only a few living animals left in the world that were kept in zoos or game preserves. Fortunately, however, conservationists put the pedal to the metal and began the complex process of reintroducing the species in 1923. With the help of pure bison bred in captivity, the population has been successfully stabilized over the past century - there are currently around 8,500 bison in the world, of which around 6,200 live in the wild. The most numerous bison herds can be seen in the Białowieża Forest region of Poland and Belarus.
If we are slightly cynical and disregard saving the species for purely moral reasons, we can ask ourselves the question: "What good is a bison anyway?" Yeah, you'd be surprised.
Bison, like beavers, are so-called ecosystem engineers - animals that reshape their environment in significant ways. Large ungulates (bison, wild horses, and aurochs) have always been a part of the European wilderness, and their activities have helped keep the landscape open. They have grazed aggressive grass species, destroyed woody debris, trampled and fertilized the soil, and uprooted young trees. After their extinction, this role was to some extent taken over by domestic cattle, which roamed freely among the villages. In recent decades, however, we have confined cows and sheep to barns, or only let them graze the areas reserved for them, and our landscape has become overgrown uncontrollably. The impenetrable jungle of blackthorn, locust, and bushgrass has left no room for rare species of plants and invertebrates - e.g. important pollinators. The loss of biodiversity then further contributes to the disintegration of irreplaceable natural processes that we have so long ago disrupted by draining the landscape, chemically treating the soil, and planting monocultures. So when you see conservationists scything meadows or clearing scrubland in the sweat of their brow, remember that they are only desperately trying to substitute what would otherwise be provided by bison and other large ungulates in the landscape.
The society Česká krajina (Czech landscape) contributes to the understanding of the key role of these animals in the Czech Republic. It is responsible for the establishment of a well-known reserve in Milovice, where scientists and the public can observe and study the beneficial effect of large ungulates on the environment. The animals are even exported from here to other locations to help save endangered species of plants and invertebrates. If you'd like to learn more about this topic, be sure to visit the website of Česká krajina, where a number of interesting articles and videos await you.
And now back to Białowieża for a moment. Watching wild bison in their natural habitat was a great experience for me, which I owe mainly to my friend Ondra Nágl. Thanks to his previous visits to Poland and his impeccable knowledge of the area, we were able to track the bison without any problems, and in just three days, we managed to film everything you are watching right now. If you would like to see something similar with your own eyes, don't be afraid to write to Ondra - he regularly returns to Białowieża and is invaluable as a guide. He'll even make you some awesome eggs with bacon and onions in the evening.
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▷ Species
European bison (Bison bonasus)
▷ Location and date
Białowieża Forest, Poland
▷ Equipment
Panasonic GH6
Metabones T Smart
Sigma 150-600 C
▷ Music
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European bison | Bison bonasus | Zubr evropský | Wisent | Bison d'Europe | bisonte europeo | европейский зубр
#bialowiezaforest #europeanbison #bisonbonasus
