EUROPEAN BISON (Bison b. bonasus L) ARE BACK IN BULGARIA
European Bison inhabited the territory of Bulgaria, but they disappeared there at the late middle Ages. The first attempts to reintroduce the European Bison in 1955 and 1959 were unsuccessful. Then, in 1961, two pairs of bison were delivered from Poland to Bulgaria, and those animals finally assimilated there. There were 6 males and 6 females registered in the European Bison Pedigree Book (EBPB) in 1965. According to the official data, the livestock there in 1974 made 40 bison. From 1974 to 1984, the number of bison there was 41. Between 1965 and 1984 they only were registered in Voden. 78 bison were registered in 1985 there. Alas, there is discrepancy between the real quantity and the registered one. Thus, the real livestock of bison decreased, but the European Bison Pedigree Book (EBPB) shows the registered number of 75 bison in Voden and 78 bison in Preslav for each year in the period between 1988 and 1991. Then there came a break in reporting of bison quantity till 2003. In 2003 Bulgaria is mentioned again in the EBPB lists but only with 2 bison living in Dobrich Zoo. According to the European Bison Pedigree Book (EBPB) register of 2008, there were only 2 bison (one male and one female) in Bulgaria that lived in Dobrich. After 2011, Bulgaria begins the project “The wild World of the Eastern Rhodopes”. Territory near Nanovitsa (Kardzhali District), became a new habitat for the bison. There is a park “Studen Kladenets” about 10 km from the town. In 2013, there were brought 7 bison (2 males and 5 females) to this park. Bison livestock in Voden increased up to 48 in the period from 2015 to 2018. In 2018 the number of males / females was not separately recorded. Total number of registered bison in Dobrich gradually decreased from 4 to 1, and increased up to 7 in Nanovitsa.