European bison going back to Romania

This video from Ireland says about itself:

European Bison leaving Fota Wildlife park for the wilds of Romania

28 April 2014

Fota Wildlife Park, working in partnership with the Aspinall foundation and three animal parks in the UK, has successfully translocated six European bison to the wild in Romania as part of a conservation effort to save Europe’s largest land mammal from extinction.

From Wildlife Extra:

European bison to be reintroduced in Romania

Two hundred years after going extinct in the area, 20 European bison will finally be brought back to the Tarcu Mountains in Romania as part of the biggest European bison reintroduction and transportation plan so far.

The 20 will be joined later in the summer by a further 10. as part of Rewilding Europe’s plan to establish wild herds across the continent.

Initially, the bison will be released into an acclimatisation zone (±15 ha). Then they will be let into an adjoining re-wilding zone (±160 ha), where the animals will be given the opportunity to ‘re-wild’ and to learn necessary survival skills for life in nature, and also form a solid social herd structure. In early September they will be released into the wild and become the first free roaming bison since the 18th century.

The location where the animals will be released is part of the vast and wild Tarcu Mountains Natura 2000 site, which is some 59,000 hectares in total. Once released to the protected zone, the area will be managed by natural grazing by the bison and other herbivores.