Frequently Asked Questions
One of key our aims for the pioneering Blean Bison project, alongside partners Wildwood Trust, has always been to form a healthy founding herd to supply the UK's first national herd of European bison for wilding. Our Blean herd settled quickly and began successfully breeding as soon as our bull arrived in late 2022. With 9 bison by 2025, we were in position to expand to a new project.
The project, in the north, aims to restore natural processes that have been missing from their landscape for millennia. Five of the former-Blean bison now reside here as a breeding herd. This is an outcome we have been looking forward to since the start. As more bison projects begin, we will be able to move bison between sites more easily to maintain genetic diversity.
The habitats that the bison will be released into consist of ex-arable land, secondary woodland, mature woodland, conifer, and heathland scrub. The project will abide by the Dangerous Wild Animals Act, meaning they will also enclose their bison within an electric and deer fence as we have at West Blean.
The herd has been split into two family groups. Five bison, which includes the Bull, two adult females and their two calves from last year have moved. This supplies a breeding herd to restore natural processes on their land.
The West Blean herd consists of one of the founding females (One-horn), her male calf born 2025, and two young females born in 2024. These females are approaching sexual maturity so their separation from their father is appropriate to prevent inbreeding.
By splitting the herd into two family groups, both herds have a range of ages and relationships. There will be a short adjustment period for our Blean bison. In the wild, European bison herds are matriarchal, meaning they are led by one female. Outside of rutting season, herd can be female only, while males are lone or in bachelor herds. It's natural for herds to divide into smaller groups as they grow.
The herd in the north will gradually be released into their full project area after quarantine where they will explore and settle into their new surrounding and food sources. This will continue to be a breeding herd.
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