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News item:

Tom Gibbs was getting worried. He was deep in the remote woodland of South East England, anxiously searching for Female 2, a bison that had strayed from the herd.

“You start to think of the worst-case scenario,” said Gibbs, a bison ranger at Kent Wildlife Trust, a British-based conservation charity.

A few days later, he heard tiny hoofs ambling around and noticed a tail swishing in the distance. Relief washed over him — followed by disbelief and delight.

“I didn’t even believe my own eyes,” he said.

Gibbs discovered that Female 2’s days-long departure from the herd was actually the best-case scenario: She had secluded herself to give birth to the first wild bison born in Britain in more than six millennia. “It was such a magical moment, and so iconic what it represents for conservation and wilding in this country,” said Gibbs, who first spotted the baby bison on Sept. 9.  [snip]

The birth was a happy surprise for the team of rangers working on the Wilder Blean project, which brings grazing animals to the West Blean and Thornden Woods in Kent as a way to address climate and biodiversity crises. [snip]

Three female bison were brought from wildlife parks in Scotland and Ireland to a 500-acre area in July and will eventually be joined by wild horses and pigs. While the goal is for the animals to fend for themselves in the wild, they are being closely monitored and slowly weaned off supplemental food — which is what they were fed previously in parks.  (our emphasis)

Welcome to the world, and stay close to mom!

(Photo: Donovan Wright)