Releasing bison into the acclimatization pen. Photo Emil Khalilov, WWF
European bison from Prague Zoo and Olomouc Zoo have arrived in Azerbaijan. They will strengthen the reintroduced population in the Shahdag National Park. The original four females have now become five, while waiting for the transport, which was delayed due to the risk of foot-and-mouth disease, a Prague cow gave birth to a calf. The transport, which was organized last week by Tierpark Berlin and the German branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), was the largest of its kind. A total of eighteen animals headed to the foothills of the Greater Caucasus: twelve bison from German, Austrian, Hungarian, and Czech zoos, and six from the Rothaargebirge mountains.
“The cooperation of zoos is irreplaceable. Without it, we would not be able to carry out such projects, let alone even think about them. I am glad that the Czech Republic has its mark on this international initiative, one from us from Bohemia and one from our colleagues from Moravia. In addition to the actual transport of animals, we are also contributing to raising awareness of zoos as key institutions for nature conservation,” says Barbora Dobiášová, curator of ungulate breeding at Prague Zoo.
The selection of specific individuals was in charge of the coordinator of the European Breeding Program (EEP) for European bison, who is based in Berlin. The age, health and genetic suitability of each candidate played a role in particular. The animals were transported to the German capital in 2024, where they had the opportunity to get to know each other before the trip. The Berlin Zoo then coordinated the air transport from Frankfurt to Baku on a Boeing 777F cargo plane and their land journey by trucks to the Shahdag National Park.
“Before such a transport, every step – from selecting the animals and carrying out medical examinations to preparing and carrying out the journey itself – requires expertise in veterinary medicine, wildlife management and logistics,” explains Tierpark Berlin’s zoological director Christian Kern. “We accompany the bison the entire time until they arrive safely in the national park.”
A look into the face of one of the three transported bulls. Photo Emil Khalilov, WWF
The bison were released into an acclimatization pen on Wednesday last week, where they will now get used to the local conditions. After that, they will head out into the wild, i.e., into the local vast deciduous forests. Shahdag National Park was established in 2006 and, with 130,000 hectares, is the largest in Azerbaijan and the entire Caucasus. The reintroduction center is located at its eastern tip and was established in 2018.
The following year, the “Return of the Bison to the Caucasus” project began, as part of which 64 bison have already been transported to Azerbaijan. What’s more, they are successfully breeding there. Last year alone, nine cubs were born there, bringing the total number of these ungulates to around 90 in Shahdag. The aim of the project is to create a self-sustaining population of bison in their original habitat. The Caucasus was the last refuge for the bison a century ago.
“The return of the bison after a century is of special importance to our region. Local communities, schools and visitors are getting involved in our work and experiencing first-hand how ecosystems work and the role endangered species play in them,” explains Zeynab Khalilova, project manager at WWF Azerbaijan.
The bison have survived to this day only thanks to zoological institutions. After they were wiped out in the wild in the first third of the 20th century, European experts founded the International Society for the Conservation of the European Bison. Its first output was the European Bison Stud Book. At that time, it was the first studbook of a wild animal species in the world (it is interesting that the second in order was the book for the Przewalski’s horse in 1959). Its first edition, published in the 1930s, registered the last 56 living individuals. Since then, the bison population has been increasing.
The first steps of the bison herd in the acclimatization pen. Photo Emil Khalilov, WWF
In 1952, bison were released into the Białowieża Forest and their successful return to the wild continued in a number of European countries. They currently live in ten European countries. In total, there are over 2,800 bison in the wild. Another several thousand live in game reserves, fenced pastures and zoos. On the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the bison currently has the European status of “near threatened”.
Prague Zoo has been breeding bison since 1948. Since then, over a hundred cubs have been born here. In addition to the Troja area, people can also see them in the enclosure in Prague’s Dolní Počernice from October. In the past, Prague Zoo has provided bison for reintroduction, not only to strengthen the Caucasian population, but also to the Bieszczady National Park in Poland.