Wildlife: Bringing back bison in Europe

European bison. Photo by Michael Gäbler.

Keystone species could help entire ecosystems recover

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Europe may not have the wide-open spaces of America’s Great Plains or Rocky Mountains, but that’s not preventing forward-thinking conservation biologists from trying to restore keystone ecosystem species wherever they can. One of the latest projects involves bringing bisons back to the forests and grasslands of Central Europe.

While a few isolated populations of bison have survived in remote areas of the Caucasus Mountains and a few other spots, the animals were extirpated in central Europe many decades ago. One of the latest attempts to rebuild wild populations involves releasing several animals in forests on the border of Germany and the Czech Republic. (more…)

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