Fact Sheet on European Bison Migration in Knyszyn, Poland

The European bison is the largest terrestrial mammal in Europe. After going extinct in the wild at the beginning of the 20th century, the species was restored to several management areas using captive animals. The population in the Knyszyn Forest began with the migration of a single male from the Białowieża Forest in 1969, who traveled nearly 50 kilometers north through farmlands, urban areas, and forests to reach a new home range. Wildlife managers then translocated five individuals to Knyszyn in the early 1970s to establish the population. Today, the area is home to approximately 560 bison. Knyszyn Forest consists mainly of coniferous tree stands intersected by river valleys. As most of the understory vegetation disappears in autumn, the forest is not suitable for large herbivores in winter. Because these bison were not given supplementary feed during the initial phase of population establishment, they did not grow accustomed to feeding and most migrate seasonally to farmlands north of the forest. They spend nearly half the year in open habitats, mainly foraging on the area’s abundant winter rapeseed crops. In spring, the bison return to the forest to take advantage of the flush of new vegetation. These migrations are therefore strongly influenced by the bison’s reintroduction to a forest habitat, which doesn’t provide sufficient forage for these large animals through the winter and may not represent their historical range.