Benefits, loses and fear – local reactions to reintroduction of European Bison in Poland

The reintroduction of species, chiefly of large animals, is an activity which faces a particular challenge of integrating nature conservation with human activity and managing emerging conflicts. European bison (Bison bonasus)... [ view full abstract ]

The reintroduction of species, chiefly of large animals, is an activity which faces a particular challenge of integrating nature conservation with human activity and managing emerging conflicts. European bison (Bison bonasus) – although a spectacular “success story” of European mammal restorations, whose population has recovered from near extinction, has also encountered many challenges of this kind. There are about 1,300 European Bison in Poland, which accounts for ¼ of the world’s population. Most of them live in five, free-ranging herds situated in three regions of the country. Though they naturally evolved as a grazing species, new herds are established through reintroduction programs in forests.. In the majority of cases, established populations tend to enlarge their forest territories to surrounding meadows and agricultural land. To date, European bison reintroduction projects in Poland have only rarely been accompanied by educational activities, and by actions preventing conflicts due to damage caused by bison. The presented study shows the results of the first-ever social survey devoted to the attitudes of local stakeholders towards bison and the perceived problems with the increasing population in one of the free-ranging herds. A questionnaire-based study was completed among 150 stakeholders in six municipalities in north-western Poland, including representatives of local governments, officials of the State Forests, hunters, and local non-government organisations. In general, the respondents showed a positive attitude towards bison even though not all of them see the immediate benefits of the presence of the reintroduced animals. Basic knowledge pertaining to bison is fairly good. Many of the respondents have heard about the ongoing reintroduction project. They are supportive of bison reintroduction, increasing the numbers of animals, and a fair number of the respondents declared a willingness to commit themselves to conservation of the species. For the local communities, the importance of bison is chiefly connected with potential tourism development in their region. Nevertheless, some local residents complained about damage to agricultural crops and indicated safety issues associated with the presence of bison. The fears of local inhabitants stem from the more frequent occurrence of bison in the immediate vicinity of their residences.