European bisons roaming free in Bialowieza Forest in Poland - stock photo

A herd of European bison, also known as wisent (Bison bonasus), grazes on a hay meadow in Bialowieza Forest in Eastern Poland near the Belarusian border. There are bulls, cows and calves in this free-ranging herd. Hazy trees are visible in the background on an almost snowless winter day. The European bisons are a species vulnerable to extinction (as classified by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species). They were extinct in the wild in the 1920s but through great efforts were successfully reintroduced to the ancient woodland. These Europe's largest and heaviest land animals are rare and under strict protection. The bisons are cloven-hoofed ruminant mammals belonging to the Bovidae biological family. Compared to the American bisons, the European bisons are less hairy but have larger horns, longer legs and hairier tails. Their brown fur becomes darker in winter. European bisons live in mixed forests and feed mainly on grasses and herbs. The Bialowieza Forest is Europe's last primeval lowland forest that once covered entire northeastern Europe and is inhabited by 800 wild bisons. This old-growth virgin forest protected for centuries was devastated in 2017 by illegal large-scale logging with use of heavy equipment ordered by the Polish government. The Bialowieza Forest is a Special Area of Conservation of the Natura 2000 network of nature protection areas in the European Union. The Bialowieza National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site of Outstanding Universal Value (inscribed in 1979 and later extended as “Bialowieza Forest, Belarus, Poland”). The European bison symbolizes strength, natural power and homeland. It is one of Polish national animals and is featured in heraldry and in the logos of the Bialowieza National Park, the non-governmental League of Nature Conservation, a Polish bank, and a Polish beer.