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Bison in Poland and around the world
Bison in Poland and around the world | Bison in Poland and around the world |
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Currently, there are two forms of bison breeding – in captivity and in free-roaming populations. When bred in captivity, bison are kept typically in zoos, zoo parks and reserves. However, bison in free roaming herds have the chance to follow natural selection and freely travel in the selected forest ranges. According to the European bison Pedigree Book (1997), there are 185 locations where bison are bred in captivity, though in 36 of these locations, mainly in zoos, there are either single animals or animals of the same sex. There are only 19 breeding locations with more than 10 specimens, with the largest number in Germany (5) and in Poland (4). In 1997, there were in total 1096 bred in captivity, which represent 37.5% of the total world wide population. 1829 specimens (62.5%) were part of the free roaming herds. There were in total 2925 bison around the world in 1997. In 1997, there were in total 33 free roaming populations around the world, concentrated in 5 countries: Ukraine – 10 populations (659 bison), Poland – 5 populations (537 bison), Belarus – 7 populations (376 bison), Russia – 10 populations (236 bison), Lithuania – 1 population (21 bison). In Poland, the number of bison in the last 10 years (1988 – 1997) was more or less on the same order of magnitude (600 – 700 specimens), from which 25% lives in captivity and 75% in free roaming herds. |
