Movements of European bison (Bison bonasus) beyond the Bialowieza Forest (NE Poland): range expansion or partial migrations?

ABSTRACT: The European bison is the largest terrestrial mammal in Europe. After extinction in the wild at the beginning of the twentieth century, it was re-introduced to Białowieża Forest and other woodlands in Eastern Europe. In this paper, we analysed the movements of European bison beyond the continuous woodlands of the Białowieża Forest (NE Poland) between 1964 and 2010. In total, 1,117 direct observations of bison were collected. The number of males moving out of the forest fluctuated during the study period, whilst the number of females steadily increased. The number of male observations outside of the forest per annum was dependent on the population size and snow depth, whilst the number of cows in mixed groups moving outside of the forest was correlated with the population size only. Males w

SUBMITTER: Kowalczyk R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3786093 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature