The Natural Population of Lowland European Bison in the Białowieża Forest

Abstract

Białowieża Forest is widely known as the last place in the world in which a wild herd of Lowland (otherwise Białowieża) European bison was able to persist. This was not solely decided by the suitability of the area’s natural features, being as much a reflection of the care and protection bison received from both the Kings of Poland and the Tsars of Russia. Hunts these monarchs conducted are described, as is the 19th-century habit of Tsars sending bison off around the globe as imperial gifts. Statistics concerning the dynamics of the Białowieża population in the 19th century and first ten years of the 20^th are provided, while particular attention is also paid here to the extermination of the Lowland bison, the last European bison in the Białowieża Forest having been killed in April 1919.