The first British bison calf to be born in the wild for thousands of years is now six months old and starting to lose her fluffy fur, as these beautiful photos show.
The female free-roaming bison calf has no official name.
But she’s nicknamed Liz by the locals, because she was born during Liz Truss’ short-lived stint as Prime Minister, and the day after Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II died.
Bison Ranger Donovan Wright has been watching over the herd in Kent’s West Blean Woods since their arrival in July 2022 as part of a rewilding project.
Mr Wright snapped the photos of the ‘baby’ bison, born on September 9 last year, while performing his duties on Saturday.
The first British bison calf to be born in the wild in thousands of years is now six months old and starting to lose her fluffy coat, as these beautiful photos show
The female free-roaming bison calf, now six months old, has no official name. But she’s nicknamed Liz by the locals, because she was born during Liz Truss’ short-lived stint as Prime Minister, and the day after Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II died.
The calf was the sire of a bull bison that arrived in Kent from Germany.
Mark Habben, Director of Zoological Operation for Wildwood Trust, says it has been a privilege to watch the calf develop over the past six months.
These incredible photos show her horns coming through and her once light brown baby coat being replaced by thick, coarse fur.
“Watching her build her place in the herd reminds us how far the project has come.
“Around this time last year there were no bison in the wild in the UK.”
He added: “The scattered footprints of this six-month-old calf remind us of the potential for change that projects like ours try to encourage.”
The calf learns how to be a buffalo through the behavior of the adults around her.
She is often seen by the rangers rubbing trees, dust bathing and browsing in dense forest.
As she ages, she will engage in activities that help other wildlife, such as stripping trees of bark, creating standing dead wood that becomes a home for invertebrates, and attracting birds and bats to the area.
Her new thick fur also traps seeds as she wanders through the woods and helps disperse them when she rubs on trees and dust baths, creating micro-habitats in the woods.
In the coming weeks, the first phase of the Wilder Blean Project, other protected grazing animals will be released, including Exmoor ponies, Iron Age pigs and longhorn cattle.
Bison Ranger Donovan Wright has been watching over the herd in Kent’s West Blean Woods since their arrival in July 2022 as part of a rewilding project
Mr Wright snapped the photos of the ‘baby’ bison, born on September 9 last year, while performing his duties on Saturday
The calf learns how to be a buffalo through the behavior of the adults around her. She is often seen by the rangers rubbing trees, dust bathing and browsing in dense forest
The public is allowed to walk among the ponies, pigs and cattle.
However, under wildlife laws, the bison are shielded from humans.
They live in a 50 hectare enclosure, which will hopefully soon be expanded to 200 hectares through the installation of tunnels that will give them access to another piece of forest.
The project was made possible by funds from the Volkspostcode Loterij.
The Long-horns were chosen for their ability to graze woody twigs, trees and undergrowth, opening up the canopy.
The ponies target softer vegetation and create space for different species in grassy and scrub areas, while the pigs complement this by rooting around with their snouts, finding roots and bulbs, disturbing the soil and growing seeds even when they have been inactive for a while. some time.
The Long-horns were chosen for their ability to graze woody twigs, trees and brush, opening up the canopy
The public is allowed to walk among the ponies, pigs and cattle. However, under wildlife laws, the bison are shielded from humans
Bison were reintroduced to the forest to help wildlife thrive, but the new arrival was a surprise
Wilder Blean project manager Stan Smith from Kent Wildlife Trust says: ‘We are delighted that the herd is doing so well, although the calf was a surprising addition to the project we couldn’t be happier or ask for more on how the whole herd has be bound to.
“They have already started shaping the landscape around them and we are seeing bison corridors opening up in the forest and areas that were once in darkness bathed in light.
‘With the introduction of the conservation grazers, the first phase of the project will be completed and we can’t wait to get back our first reports from the comprehensive monitoring program that will highlight some of the changes they’ve made to the forest.’
You can donate to the Wilder Blean project here.
WHY SHOULD BISON PROTECTION BE RECONSIDERED?
Yellowstone’s herd of more than 4,000 bison forms the largest and one of the last free-roaming, genetically pure groups of animals ever to roam
North America by the millions before they nearly went extinct in the late 19th century.
Conservation groups have argued that endangered species status is necessary to ensure the long-term survival of wild bison, also commonly known as buffalo, and help the creature recover to more of its historic natural range.
The bison, a rugged, hump-shouldered animal weighing up to 990 kg and with a shoulder height of 1.8 meters, was officially declared the US national mammal in 2016.
The Fish and Wildlife Service concluded in 2015 that conservation groups had provided insufficient evidence that the Yellowstone buffalo belt was endangered.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the Department of the Interior’s Office erred in not considering evidence that indicated the Yellowstone bison may be endangered or endangered.
A federal judge has ordered U.S. conservationists to reconsider a decision that blocked protection for the park’s iconic bison herds, which are routinely slaughtered when they try to leave the park
The ruling hinged on a scientific dispute over whether there are two genetically distinct bison populations in Yellowstone, known as a central herd and a northern herd, respectively.
Conservationists cited research suggesting the government’s overall goal of 3,000 bison in the park was too low to prevent the extinction of one or both.
Government biologists rejected that study.
But Cooper said the Fish and Wildlife Service was required by law to explain why the study was irrelevant, and he commissioned a new agency to assess whether Yellowstone bison deserve protection.
