It’s ‘Blean’ a whole year since bison made history in the UK - Kent Wildlife Trust
A surprise bison calf, dung beetles, and possible evidence of bison self-medicating are just a few of the wonders that have been revealed
On one of the hottest days of the year, as temperatures soared past 40 degrees, three wild bison were released into a Canterbury woodland to make the landscape more resilient to climate change.
- The release was the result of years of hard work by the charities Kent Wildlife Trust and Wildwood Trust and funded by players of the People’s Postcode Lottery.
- Within hours of the release, the woodland began to change shape.
- Dung beetles were found in bison droppings and a drop in the parasitic load of the matriarch led experts to question if the animals self-medicate.
- The project has been recognised as a game-changer for conservation, tackling the biodiversity and climate crises in tandem.
- Exmoor ponies, Iron-Age pigs and Longhorn cattle have also been released into the woodland.
Fundraising is underway for bison bridges which will open up a further 150 hectares of space to the herd.
On 18th July 2022, as the temperature soared past 40 degrees and under the glare of an international media spotlight, three European bison took their first tentative steps into an ancient Canterbury woodland.
The three bison were the first to freely roam in the UK in thousands of years. They had been released into the woodland by Kent Wildlife Trust and Wildwood Trust as part of the Wilder Blean Project, a ground-breaking wilding initiative using large herbivores to reshape the landscape to combat the nature crisis and make the area more resilient to climate change.