Poland works to protect its bison population
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In Poland, authorities and conservationists are working to improve the safety of the European bison, a species that once went extinct in the country and was reintroduced from abroad.
The current bison population descends from a small number of animals brought in from foreign breeding programs and settled in Białowieża Forest in 1952. While legally protected within the European Union and Poland, bison still face threats from poachers, vehicle collisions, and conflicts with farmers.
State-owned forestry, Lasy Państwowe, stopped organizing commercial bison hunts in 2018 after years of appeals from experts and environmental groups like Greenpeace Poland, who argued that the hunts targeted healthy animals as well as sick ones. Currently, bison may only be culled with permission from the General Directorate for Environmental Protection, and only under specific conditions such as illness, aggression, or overpopulation. However, illegal poaching continues, with estimates suggesting several to dozens of bison are killed each year.
Increasingly, bison are venturing outside forested areas, leading to more frequent and deadly collisions with cars and trains. This year alone, at least five bison have died in such accidents, following fourteen the year before, many in the Hajnówka county. Experts are proposing solutions like speed reductions, dedicated wildlife crossings, and clearer road signage to mitigate these risks.
They also emphasize the need for better compensation systems for farmers experiencing crop damage from bison, suggesting that some claims may be fraudulent. With around 25% of the global bison population living in Poland, conservationists urge greater public understanding and tolerance for these animals.
