Baby bison spotted in Romania’s Făgăraș Mountains

The rangers of the nature NGO Fundatia Conservation Carpathia (FCC) have spotted the first European bison calf born in the wild in the Făgăraș Mountains after the reintroduction of the species in the area.

While doing the monitoring rounds, the rangers saw that the bison herd reintroduced this spring was guarding a male calf that is only a few weeks old.

“We are happy to see the confirmation of the fact that the Făgăraș Mountains are a good place for the [European] bison and that they adjusted well to the area. Reproduction in nature is one of the most important signs showing the viability of a species’ population,” the NGO explained in a Facebook post.

At the end of 2019, FCC announced it started a program to reintroduce the European bison in the Făgăraș Mountains, with the long-term plan to establish a stable population of 30 bison in the area.

Since May 2020, the first eight bison are roaming freely in the Făgăraș Mountains. The NGO has carried out feasibility studies for other areas and will reintroduce more bison.

The bison disappeared from Romania some 200 years ago. In recent years, it was successfully reintroduced in Neamț, Caraș Severin, and Hunedoara counties.

The bison reintroduction program rolled out in the Făgăraș Mountains is part of the project “Creation of a Wilderness Reserve in the Southern Carpathian Mountains, Romania.” It is implemented by FCC in a partnership with the ProPark Foundation for Protected Areas, Conservation Capital (UK), and prof. Alistair Bath (Canada), between 2019 and 2024. It receives financial support from the Arcadia Foundation through the Endangered Landscapes Program and from the European Commission through the LIFE program.

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(Photo: screen capture from video)