Zubr Polski vs. American Bison: Contrasting Conservation Methodology in Native Bison Populations

The bison is a perennial icon of resilience, strength, power, family & community, and sustenance. These creatures have interacted with humans for hundreds of thousands of years. However, it is not well-known in the United States that American bison have their ancestral roots in Europe—just like most other Americans.

Across the ocean and a migration ago, is a smaller cousin to the American bison, yet equally captivating and majestic. The American bison is classified as Bison bison, while the European counterpart is Bison bonasus—so, they are distinct species with distinctive histories and biologies. The two species split sometime relatively recently—B. bonasus migrated over the Bering land bridge alongside humans and myriad other species. The individuals that fully migrated to North America leaving their motherland behind consequently adapted to the new continent, and changed somewhat from its European ancestors as the Bering land bridge was buried under water overtime. These individuals and their descendants became the animals hunted by American peoples as well as the individuals we ranch and consume in our supplement today. However, the two species’ stories run parallel to one another in surprising ways.

Both species were hunted to near-extinction, both being genetically bottlenecked within the last 200 years. American bison were hunted to around 500 individuals in North America in the 1800s, while European bison were hunted to fewer than 100 individuals by soldiers in both world wars. Encouragingly, both species have made considerable comebacks from these frighteningly-low numbers.

Here again in modernity however, the history of the two species diverges again.

American bison are not a protected species, at least in most circumstances. Some states like Wyoming allow for hunting of wild bison, while other states encourage ranching and commercial production of the animals. In both cases, money is generated, which encourages varying entities (wildlife departments, agricultural departments, ranchers, etc.) to produce more bison. It is the bison industry, and American capitalistic incentives which have paradoxically brought American bison numbers up from 300-500 in the 1800s to an estimated 500,000 today (and perhaps even more ironically, industry relating to bison in addition to anti-Indian policies of the American government are what originally brought the numbers so low). At their peak, it is estimated that up to 60 million American bison roamed the Great Plains—obviously at 500,000, fewer than 1% of that population exists—however, cattle now take up the habitat of the ancient bison herds, and the full amount of 60 million bison will likely never exist again. That said, 500,000 is a great improvement on 500, and it’s safe to say that American bison have, and are, making a comeback.

European bison are protected in most of the countries they exist in. I recently visited Bialowieza Forest and National Park in Poland, where one of the largest herds of European bison reside. I was fortunate enough to witness these beasts in the wild, which is actually what inspired me to write this piece of reflection. European bison reside in Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, Ukraine, Russia, Spain, and less than 10 individuals in Germany at the time of writing. There are only around 7,000 individuals in all these countries combined, and I was very surprised to hear that Poland’s heard of over 900 was increasing at a rate of only 20 or so bison per year. Why so slow and inefficient?

While I am sure someone more academic than myself could offer an in-depth analysis, I will offer my own concise observations. I believe that European bison conservancy groups do themselves (and more importantly, the European bison) a disservice by “protecting” these animals. The Polish state essentially has a monopoly on European bison production (at least within Poland), and so ranchers and prospective ranchers of European bison are locked out, so to speak. Because they cannot be raised for meat or commercial purposes, there are no economic incentives to increasing numbers of European bison. Because bison are “protected” (truly, a poor word choice that does not convey the reality of the situation), bison cannot be raised on ranches or in controlled (and predator-free) environments. Prospective ranchers (like myself) and people fascinated by European bison who might raise them as hobby animals (as happens so frequently in the US—there are tons of small bison ranchers here in the US, and very few large-scale operations, in contrast to the cattle industry). Putting European bison genes into as many hands as possible on as many lands as possible is the best-case-scenario for improving population numbers. Clearly the status quo of increasing the Polish national herd by 20 individuals per year is not significant and a change of strategy is necessary.

If regulatory agencies allowed for commercial, personal, and other production of European bison and opened the doors to private ranchers, farmers, conservationists, etc., I imagine the population of European bison would be much closer to the 500,000 individuals in the USA, as opposed to the somewhat-pathetic 7,000 in all of Europe and Asia. Further, awareness of the species would be significantly enhanced. I am frequently met with incredulous reactions in the United States when I tell people about my experience seeing European bison in the wild—”there are european bison?!” I am always asked. Yes, there are European bison, but you will likely never see one because of overregulation and poorly thought-out conservation methodology (if you could even call it that).

There is some over-the-top irony to this story as well, as seems to be a necessary ingredient for any and all significant goings-on in the 21st century. The irony here, as I have alluded to earlier, is that bison are “protected” in Poland and other European countries. That sounds good, doesn’t it? It’s a heart-warming term, and one that immediately brings feelings of common-sense—of course European bison should be protected, shouldn’t they? Their population is low and and their genetics are fragile and limited—it seems obvious, right? It all depends on exactly what one means by “protected.”

Amazingly enough, there are nearly 2,000 wolves in Poland. I found this statistic incredible, as even the wilds of Colorado have fewer than a dozen individuals. What a comparison—truly, 2000 wolves is an incredible amount. Even the massive and ruggedly-wild state of Alaska is estimated to house between 7,000-11,000 individuals! These wolves of course need to eat, and they eat meat—while I was repeatedly told that wolves merely attempt to hunt European bison but that “it doesn’t have much impact on bison numbers,” I am as incredulous about these statements as I am about my neighbors regarding the existence of European bison. Wolves are more unsuccessful than not when hunting (much larger) American bison in Yellowstone Park (as well as in Alaska), but they are nonetheless sometimes successful. And of course, even with limited success, the wolves continuously try to predate upon bison, and are most successful with tender and ignorant young calves. So, I believe the bison are “protected” from human hunters and ranchers, and a prospective customer base. All around Bialowieza were tourist-trapping restaurants which featured venison on the menu. Bison? You can’t find the meat anywhere. Imagine the income and bison population a ranch could produce if it served customers visiting the forest, as well as offering individual bison back to the national forest. It is a paradox indeed that we increase bison population by eating them, as it incentivizes their production. However, I am digressing—my point is that the bison are not really protected. The wolves get their share. Some bison starve every year in harsh Polish winters. Others undoubtedly freeze to death, succumb to disease, and some of the bulls inevitably die during the breeding rut as they battle one another for mating rights. European bison are only protected from humans, which isn’t really being protected. They are not protected from their true agents of death, and their ability to reproduce in peace (as it occurs on a ranch) is not at all protected.

These thoughts are even more perplexing when one considers the European Union and its fetish for carbon sequestration. Regardless of one’s beliefs about climate change, carbon levels, etc., it is unanimously agreed upon that bison sequester carbon and can do so incredibly efficiently. For whatever reasons (most of which appear to be motivated by scandalous politics and money), the EU wants to get rid of cattle ranchers. They seem to constantly be making cattle ranching more difficult and expensive to do, as well as more regulated. I saw many fallow fields in Poland that a cow would have been thrilled to graze, but regulatory practices can make this nonsensically difficult, in the name of preventing climate change. Never mind that bison and cattle can fill the same role on the landscape, and so cattle have the ability to sequester carbon just as bison do, because that is another digression. What the reader should mind (at least for now—I would encourage the reader to research cattle’s ability to sequester carbon when appropriately managed/grazed) is that a small herd of less than 200 bison in Romania have sequestered carbon more efficiently and at higher rates than the largest carbon sequestering facility ever constructed.

One would think that if the EU, Poland, and other players involved really wanted to sequester carbon, increase bison population, and maybe even produce food and income as a result of doing these goods, they would encourage private production of European bison through economic incentives. Imagine a factory that produced highly nutritious food, increased dangerously-low populations of native species in native habitats, sequestered carbon and enhanced local wildlife & ecology, and made money! Imagine this factory is beautiful to look at, not an eyesore—well, you have just imagined bison ranching. Ranching bison is essentially turning the land into a factory—a factory that produces incredibly-high quality food, increases bison populations, sequesters carbon, and offers a view infinitely better than TV. This is only the beginning, while more intangible factors like enhancing human-nature relationships and deepening our philosophical conversations about how humans and nature should interact are potentially invaluable, but certain benefits of bison ranching as well.

European bison need no longer be “protected” in the current sense of the word. European policies pertaining to bison management need a massive overhaul, and economic incentives should be made to encourage production of European bison on private ranches. European bison populations should be tracked and coordinated to enhance the low genetic diversity and minimize inbreeding. Private individuals ranching these bison should be held accountable to producing certain amounts of the animals for conservation purposes and repopulating wild habitats, while also being allowed to produce the animals for meat, wool, tourism, or other economic reasons. There are nearly infinite ways to structure policy to encourage more efficient and rapid repopulation of European bison, but the status quo is not one of them.

It is the responsibility of those managing European bison policy to get as many European bison onto the landscape as possible, in both private and public domains. The end consequences of ideal policy changes around European bison production could easily be production of high quality & nutritious red meat, significant carbon sequestration, monetary income, intensified tourism, more beautiful and functional ecology, enhanced human-nature relationships, and rapidly improving population of native species on the European continent.

I am not optimistic about these changes, but feel they are overwhelmingly obvious to make, and felt obligated about writing them.

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