European bison

A male European bison can grow to more than 1.80 meters tall. It is over 3 meters long and can weigh up to 900 kilograms. Females grow to about 1.60 meters tall, up to 2.70 meters long, and weigh around 400 kilograms.

These large animals can run at speeds of 60 km/h for short periods. That makes them almost twice as fast as the fastest humans. Most of the time, however, they move at a leisurely pace. These heavy animals can jump surprisingly high and far. When fleeing, they sometimes clear obstacles that are 2 metres high or 3 metres wide.

Bison move around on quite slender legs. Each hoof has two toes made of hard horn. This type of toe is found in all cattle breeds. That is why cattle are also called cloven-hoofed animals. Wild bison can live for around 20 years.

European bison eat plants. They especially like places with a variety of deciduous trees and plenty of grasses and herbs to graze on. They particularly enjoy young leaves and the shoots of bushes and trees. In winter, when food is scarce, they also eat tree bark and even thorny blackberry bushes. Like all cattle, they lie down from time to time and chew their food again. That’s why they’re called ruminants.

European bison mostly live in small herds of about 12 to 20 animals. A herd is led by a cow. Older bulls often roam alone. Female bison usually have their first calf in their fourth year.

A cow gives birth to a calf every one or two years, without any assistance. Newborn calves weigh about 25 to 30 kg. After just 30 minutes or so, they can stand on their own legs.

In winter, several herds sometimes join together. A thick blanket of snow makes it difficult for the animals to find enough food. So they scrape away the snow together until they reach the layer of vegetation. Bison have thick coats that protect them well from the cold. In autumn, they grow a particularly thick winter coat, which they shed again in spring. This helps them withstand temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees.

They can use their hooves to break holes in the ice to reach water. In the protected areas, the animals are fed hay and given water in winter.

Only wolves and bears can be dangerous to European bison. Predators mainly attack sick or weakened animals. European bison sometimes get sick; foot-and-mouth disease in particular can be very dangerous for cattle. Today there are only a few wolves and bears left in Europe, so European bison no longer really have any natural enemies. Yet at one point there were almost no European bison left, because humans had nearly wiped out these wild cattle. A single animal provided a large supply of meat and competed with domestic cattle. In the past, hunting was usually reserved for wealthy nobles, who hunted for pleasure. As there are more European bison again today, individual animals in Eastern Europe are occasionally made available for hunters to shoot.

The best place to see bison is in one of the wildlife parks where these large animals are kept, for example on the island of Usedom or in Springe. For several years now, the only free-roaming herd of bison in Germany has been in the Rothaargebirge region of Sauerland.