Bison-Rewilding-Plan-2014

GRZEGORZ LEŚNIEWSKI / WILD WONDERS OF EUROPEmany millennia, it is likely that they have distinctniches. Furthermore as domestic cattle rely onhumans they lack a role in the ecosystem as prey forpredators and scavengers.Recent accounts of predation on Europeanbison have generally been few and sporadic due tothe small numbers of large predators in areas suchas the Bialowieza forest. Following reintroductionof bison into the Polish Carpathians during the1960s, accounts of wolf (Canis lupus) and brownbear (Ursus arctos) eating bison began to appear,although it was not clear whether they had activelyhunted bison or were scavenging. There werereports in the Ukraine of four bison killed by bear,but due to the lack of evidence elsewhere for suchbehaviour, these incidents most likely involvedisolated, sick or injured bison (Cantanoiu 2012).Previous studies have shown that in areas withsufficient alternative prey, wolves will generallyavoid large herbivores, whereas in areas wherebison is the predominant herbivore, wolves canspecialise in hunting bison by forming largepacks, as is also known from North America e.g.Wood Buffalo National Park (Carbyn et al. 1993;van de Vlasakker 2008). Therefore, if wolf andbison numbers increase sufficiently, this couldbecome a possibility in Europe. In the Bialowiezaforest research showed that bison carcasses weremainly scavenged by ravens (Corvus corax), red fox(Vulpus vulpes), wolf and common buzzard (Buteobuteo) (Selva et al. 2003). Avian scavengers morefrequently visited bison carcasses placed in gladesthan those located in the forest (Selva et al. 2003;Catanoiu 2012), probably to avoid attacks fromother predators (e.g. goshawk (Accipiter gentilis),Eurasian eagle owl (Bubo bubo)).17