Europe is the center of modern world history, where it has experienced the baptism of two industrial revolutions, but also the poison of two world wars. This has had a huge impact on the survival of wild animals in Europe, such as the largest mammal in Europe, the European bison, which was almost extinct due to war. European bison have a body length of more than 2.8 meters and can weigh up to 920 kilograms.
The close relative of the European bison is the American bison, which is smaller than the American bison, but has a longer tail and horns. Before humans multiplied in Large Numbers in Europe, the European bison was widely distributed, and it had three subspecies, namely the Caucasian bison, the Hungarian bison and the lowland bison.
The extinction of the European bison began in prehistoric times, when they were the main food source for prehistoric humans. After entering the age of civilization, the number of European bison has been decreasing, and the last european bison live in the mountain steppes of the Caucasus and Poland. The idea of protecting European bison began in the 16th century, when Polish kings ordered the protection of bison, but with the disintegration of Poland, Polish bison were hunted in large numbers.
By the 19th century, Tsar Alexander I of Russia had ordered the protection of European bison, and the number of European bison had briefly increased during this period. Of the three subspecies of the European bison, the first to go extinct was the Hungarian bison, 1790. World War I became the catalyst for the extinction of the bison in Europe. The survival of wildlife during the war became unattended.
The German army that occupied the Forest of Biovia easily hunted 600 European bison. By the end of the war, only 9 European bison had survived in the Biaova Forest. This almost declared the wild extinction of the European bison. Finally, in 1927, the last Caucasian bison was shot by humans.
During the interwar period, the protection of bison in Europe was valued by many, and even the International Association for the Protection of Bison was established in Berlin, which also attracted many political missions, such as the later commander of the German Air Force, Goering. But this protection was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II. The zoo became the last home of the bison in Europe.
After the end of World War II, the conservation of European bison was officially launched, through zoo breeding and wild release, by 2019, the number of European bison in the world has recovered to 7500, of which about 4500 are released in the wild. Poland and Belarus became the main promised lands for the European bison.
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