Wild Bison Return as Ecosystem Engineers

Conservationists in England have released three European bison into West Blean and Thornden Woods, a nature reserve near Canterbury. The Kent Wildlife Trust and Wildwood Trust hope to bring some ecological balance to some 500 acres of woodland.

The goal is for the bison – which have not stomped on British ground for thousands of years – to naturally transform what was a dense commercial forest of non-native pine trees back into the vibrant natural woodland as God (or whatever) had intended it.

Bison are considered “ecosystem engineers,” which basically means they have an outsized impact on a habitat, hopefully for the better. They are expected to eat the bark of the non-native trees and knock down a few, which is not difficult for a beast that can weigh up to a ton. A bison’s proclivity to loll around in dust baths will open up new spaces for the species that had been squeezed out by the monoculture commercial trees – plants, insects, lizards, birds and bats.

The three females are fitted with tracking collars so that rangers can monitor their movements and closely observe how they are engineering the ecosystem. In mid-August they’ll meet a young bull brought in from Germany (whose arrival is delayed due to Brexit-related complications). Soon thereafter the small herd will be joined by other grazing animals – Exmoor ponies, iron age pigs and Longhorn cattle.

The bison will breed, God (or whoever) willing. The Wilder Blean site is permitted to carry up to 10 animals, and when the woodland reaches carrying capacity, the rangers hope to provide bison elsewhere in the UK. There are about 7,000 bison in continental Europe, all of them descended from just 12 zoo animals. The species is classified as near threatened.

Photo credit: Donovan Wright