The European Bison

The European bison should not be confused with the American bison. While European bison live in forests and have to survive in snow, American bison are usually found on the plains. European bison can be found in northern and eastern Europe, extending to Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine. 

European bison are the biggest, heaviest mammals in Europe. Although European bison are huge - measuring as tall as a fully-grown man and weighing as much as 2,000 pounds - they can still run fast and jump over streams. Bulls, or males, tend to be heavier than females. European bison and American bison look different. A European bison's coat is shorter and less shaggy, their tails are longer, their horns are curvier and sharper, and they are smaller overall. Like bulls, European bison are known to blow their breath out of their noses as a way to show aggressive behavior. They also use their horns to fight. Males will challenge each other for territory and to be the leader of the herd. 

European bison are herbivores and eat leaves, trees, twigs and berries. They have to eat a lot! In the winter, they can dig under snow to find plants and grasses, but often eat tree bark this time of year. 

Because of over hunting and habitat destruction, the European bison was extinct in the wild in 1927. There were only a dozen of these animals left in zoos. In 1951, European bison were reintroduced to the wild and today there are more than 3,000 of them!

Cool Fact: A European bison's long tail acts as a switch to keep files off of its body!