I would like to dedicate this post to the last remaining wisent in Europe. I really don't like the way this sounds... and not necessarily because it sounds like a cliché, but mostly because it makes it obvious that they are becoming extinct. I will start with a short summary about them of the things I read on some websites about wisent (ex: wikipedia, wikimapia etc).
The wisent, also known as the European bison it is one of the heaviest surviving land animal in Europe, a typical wisent can measure up to 2.2 metres tall and 3 metres long, with a weight that can excede 1 ton. There were different types of wisent inhabiting Europe, depending on the region they were found in (ex: Caucasus Wisent).They were once hunted to extinction during the 1920s and have since been reintroduced from captivity into some countries from Eastern Europe. The wisent population took a slow but steady downfall from the 8th century especially in the western part of Europe, becoming extinct in Gaul and by the 12th century they were no signs of them to be found both in Sweden or southern England. The last of the species that survived in Western Europe was last tracked to be in the Ardennes and the Vosges in the 15th century. Although they were still slowly losing their numbers, the wisent survived in Eastern Europe. In the 20th century the last wild wisent in Poland was killed was in 1919, while in 1927 the last wild wisent in the world was killed by poachers in the western Caucasus. By the end of that year only 50 remained, all held in captivity.
Starting with the year 1951, wisent have been reintroduced into the wild. This was made possible by the reproduction program they went through in the zoos and the natural reserves. Their numbers slowly rose up despite they are still on the brink of exctinction due to their vulnerabilty to diseases. At the very moment less than 3000 specimens are still alive in the world, most of them being in national parks in Poland, Belarus, Romania, Ukraine and Russia.
In Romania, they can be found roaming freely in Neamt and Hateg (there might be another one but I am not sure).
The reserve I went to is 3km away from Hateg. The road leading from the main road to the reserve was through the Silvut Forest, the forest where the first european wisent (breed from different ancestors) appeared in Romania.
Before I headed for the Silvut Hateg-Reserve I researched and found on some websites that there are still 7 wisent alive there, but it seems that those sites haven't been updated for ages now.... Because when I got there, there were only 4. "Three females and one male... that's all we got left." the forestman told me. "We had seven a couple years ago... but they are quite frail despite their size, they are very vulnerable to diseases!" it's what he replied to my question about the missing three. I was not only saddened but frustrated at the same time... and not because I knew these were some of the last ones still roaming the earth, but because of the state the reserve was in. "We once had raindeer, wildboars, bears, black goats and other species that were free in the wild, but now they are gone... It seems there are more important things out there now, than natural reserves or wildlife... School busses used to come every weekend years ago.... Now we are happy if we can still get a couple of visitors around from time to time, every couple of months..." I can clearly remember the bitter taste I had that day. From what it looked and from what I've seen. The forestman and his wife were the only ones taking care of the whole 50 acres reserve and of the wisent. I asked him "How hard is it to take care of them?", he replied "It is hard work.." while pointing at pen of where the wisent were kept sometime during the day or at night, "I started demolishing the concrete wall of the pen, to replace it with wood, so that small children can see better through.", indeed trying to look through the concrete wall was almost impossible, to say nothing about the industrial communist look it had...
But yet again who cares about this all...? Wait... No... Let me rephrase that... There are more "important" things to care about than this... There are way "better", "necessary" and "life concerning" issues to take care of than our natural and national heritage and values... Which are left to rot and decay in the fight for power, while we spectate the cyrcus that happens in front of us... I try to shout! But I can't hear my own voice... Others try to shout aswell! I see them and they see me... But it's useless we are way too few in the crowd shouting, in order to cover the screeching rattle of the cyrcus freaks with just our very own voices... So we wait... And hope that the show will soon come to an end...
For good...
Great post, and great photos! Particularly like the one of the mouth, great detail.
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