Adopt a European Bison

The European bison was hunted to extinction in 1927

The European bison is the largest herbivore in Europe and was historically distributed through western, central and southeastern Europe. Following the First World War and the Russian Revolution of 1917, heavy poaching decimated the already diminished population. The last wild bison was tragically shot in 1927.

Fortunately, 54 individuals remained in European zoos. The survival of the species is a great conservation success, proving animals can be saved from the brink of extinction by using captive breeding programmes and collective conservation effort.

How your European bison adoption helps overseas

Working with our two partner parks in Kent, The Aspinall Foundation has released 11 bison back to the wild, to live freely in their natural habitat in Romania and Spain.

In a collaboration in 2014, we sent six females to the Vanatori Neamt National Park in Romania, and in another in 2016, we released five bison to the 3,700-acre Valdeserrillas Nature Reserve in the mountains northwest of Valencia, Spain.

Caring for European bison in Kent

Our partner park, Port Lympne Reserve, is home to a herd of females who can be seen from the safari truck experience. See them for free with your adoption (except Bronze).

Adopt the European bison with The Aspinall Foundation and help protect endangered species.

Fun facts about European bison

• The European bison has no natural predators.
• European bison are not territorial, and their spatial organisation and population density are influenced by habitat quality and food abundance.
• Bison belong to the bovine family (which includes cattle) and both males and females possess horns which are used in fighting.
• They have a very distinctive, muscular humped shoulder and short legs.
• During summer, a male bison can eat up to 32kg of food in a day!
• Although these grazing animals do produce methane, the way bison graze and the food they eat in the woodland produces less greenhouse gasses compared to traditional conservation grazers like sheep and cattle.