Led by Kent Wildlife Trust<\/a> and the Wildwood Trust<\/a>, this pioneering, five-year reintroduction project forms part of a broader wilding project, which has been made possible by a \u00a31m award from the People\u2019s Postcode Lottery Dream Fund. The aim is to restore the natural ecosystem in the area\u2019s renowned ancient woodlands and store carbon.<\/p>\n More related content:<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> \u00a0<\/p>\n The bison will create a more climate-resilient landscape, and will<\/span>\u00a0help to naturally regenerate the West Blean woods through the unique way they graze, creating \u2018sand baths\u2019, and felling trees by rubbing against them and eating the bark. This behaviour<\/span>\u00a0encourages more light to the woodland floor and improves the habitat for a range of other species.<\/p>\n \u201cThe restoration of naturally functioning ecosystems is a vital and inexpensive tool in tackling the climate crisis,\u201d says\u00a0Evan Bowen-Jones, chief executive officer at Kent Wildlife Trust.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWe want Wilder Blean to mark the beginning of a new era for conservation in the UK. We need to revolutionise the way we restore natural landscapes, relying less on human intervention and more on natural engineers like bison, boar and beaver.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEqually important is that the Wilder Blean project will connect people with nature in a way that hasn\u2019t been possible before in the UK, because we haven\u2019t had big wild animals in our landscapes. We hope that those who visit will be inspired by what we are doing and become champions for nature too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The bison will soon be joined by other grazing animals, including Exmoor ponies, Iron Age pigs and Longhorn cattle, whose natural behaviours compliment the bison and will help to manage the landscape without the need for human intervention. Their impacts will be closely monitored in a long-term survey programme led by Kent Wildlife Trust.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The European bison is the continent\u2019s largest land mammal, weighing as much as a tonne.\u00a0There have already been successful releases in other European countries, including Poland, Romania and the Netherlands, where people are reportedly able to walk through areas where bison are present without problems if a respectful distance is kept.<\/p>\n \u201cI have wanted to see bison in the woodlands of Kent for over ten years, and after three years of determined and focused work, we have been able to make it happen,\u201d says Paul Whitfield, general director of the\u00a0Wildwood Trust. \u201cThis is a huge step forward for species recovery in the UK and will open the door for many more important wilding projects in the future.\u201d<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Catherine Smalley Published: Monday, 18 July 2022 at 12:00 am Just before 7am today, a small herd of European bison was released into Blean woods near Canterbury, Kent. It\u2019s the first time in 6,000 years that this ancient species has roamed in Britain. It\u2019s fitting that their release should coincide with the hottest day […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":18506,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/07\/ancient-bison-are-back-in-the-uk.jpg",1707,2560,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/07\/ancient-bison-are-back-in-the-uk-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/07\/ancient-bison-are-back-in-the-uk-200x300.jpg",200,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/07\/ancient-bison-are-back-in-the-uk-768x1152.jpg",768,1152,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/07\/ancient-bison-are-back-in-the-uk-683x1024.jpg",683,1024,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/07\/ancient-bison-are-back-in-the-uk-1024x1536.jpg",1024,1536,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/07\/ancient-bison-are-back-in-the-uk-1366x2048.jpg",1366,2048,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Catherine Smalley Published: Monday, 18 July 2022 at 12:00 am Just before 7am today, a small herd of European bison was released into Blean woods near Canterbury, Kent. It\u2019s the first time in 6,000 years that this ancient species has roamed in Britain. It\u2019s fitting that their release should coincide with the hottest day…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/18505"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\""Two\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2022\/03\/European-bison.-GettyImages-855028666-427ec6d.jpg?quality=45&resize=556,556"\" "\\"\"The\\"")
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