10 most recent news and agenda items

Two new articles: Reintroduction of Musk ox (Northern Russia) and Bison (Caucasus)

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 08:45:03 +0100

“Reintroduction of Musk ox in the Northern Russia”

Considerable part of the territory of Russia faces the Polar Ocean. Territories with severe climate and long periods of low temperatures are sizeable. The task of reintroduction of such a well adapted for the habitat in the North specie as muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus), seemed challenging for biologists in Russia. According to the reports (Vereshagin, Barishnikov, 1985), the species has inhabited Taimyr peninsula relatively recently, where remains of muskoxen of 2000 - 4000 years old were discovered. Read more….

“History of the disappearance and return wisent in the Caucasian mountains, 70 years of a grand mission”

On June 29, 1940, five wisent in custom-built cages arrived at the Khadzhokh railroad station in the foothills of the northwestern Caucasus. These animals came from Askania-Nova to found what was to become the world's largest and oldest population of wisent1, presently roaming the montane forests throughout the western Caucasus. Many prominent Europeans played a role in the history of these truly royal animals. Numerous political upheavals of the turbulent 19th and 20th centuries have directly affected their lives. Read more….

We made a new directory, where such interesting articles, sent by our LHNet experts, such as Dr. Taras Sipko, will be published. We are looking forward to

Wisent: current stage and its future

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 13:48:26 +0200

Recently LHNet’s Bison-experts received a request to fill in a questionnaire about the actual situation of the European bison / Wisent and the challenges for its future.
From July until December an internship project concerning the wisent is being carried out. Yannick Exalto studies Wildlife Management (Bs) at the University of Applied Sciences Van Hall Larenstein, the Netherlands.

The title of his project is: ‘Current status of the European bison (Bison bonasus) and future prospects in Pan-Europe’. Read more…

Bison world in Russia, movie

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 14:36:01 +0100

Bison world in Russia

The European bison or Wisent is a beautiful animal with a dark brown wooly coat, round but pointy horns and of impressive body size. People that are lucky to catch a glimpse of this beast, are reminded of ancient times, imagining enormous herds roaming the European wilderness.

This animal also belongs to the Russian home grounds, but suffered great loss of their population during the 20th Century. Several organizations, among them LHNet, are working hard to bring back this species to healthy numbers and return them to their territories.

One of our common main goals is to realize large self-dependent bison populations in Central- and Eastern Europe. Our Expert Taras Sipko has sent us a very nice documentary made by RT television about the unique experiment of Bison population restoration in the Russian wilderness.

Watch the documentary of 30 minutes about European bison that have been re-introduced in Russia.

Documentary by: Autonomous non-profit organization (ANO) “TV-Novosti”, Channel “RT TV” Moscow.

Expansion large mammal species?

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 10:11:32 +0100

In an article published on Discovery News, Jennifer Viegas reports on scientists' prediction that it may be possible to clone a woolly mammoth within the next five years. They are currently analysing the marrow from a mammoth thigh bone found in the Siberian permafrost. Cloning mammoths will no doubt raise many questions.

Read the full article here.

Where did the wild horse go

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:52:58 +0100

Wild horses have been an intricate part of the wildlife of Europe since hundreds of thousands of years. During historical times, wild horses have been described by contemporaries from the ancient period, until the 19th century.

Truly wild horse species?

There is no doubt that wild horses should have their rightful place in Europe’s nature areas today. It becomes a lot more complicated when the question arises which horse breeds to choose as a truly wild horse species. It doesn’t make sense to automatically translate the Tarpan to the whole of Europe. The appearance of animals is determined by their genetic make-up but also by the environment they live in.

From all the archaeozoological remains studied and from examples like ancient colour genetic studies, it becomes clear that the appearance of horses changed constantly and varied widely in the course of time and according to the various ecoregions they inhabite.

Przewalski or European wild horse breeds

The alternative would be to simply choose for the only recognized wild horse: the Przewalski horse. However, Przewalski horses did split from Equus Caballus Caballus some time ago, so they present another type of Equine. Unknown to many, a lot of horses in Europe fit those criteria. And in total, all those ecotypes represent a unique diversity of wild and feral horses spanning virtually the whole of Europe.

24 Horse ecotypes

LHNet’s expert, Drs. Henri Kerkdijk-Otten prepared a rather impressive list of 24 horse ecotypes.

He stressed: “It is strange to see that the general public knows so little about most of them. It would be a shame if we would lose those valuable horses, because at least some of them truly represent ancient ecotypes and genes. More research is currently being done and still has to be done. Until we know more, we should at least try to protect those breeds.”

He concludes: “If a European-wide rewilding scheme ever wants to reach its optimum, then we should take advantage of this enormous wealth of biodiversity and genetic diversity and start using them in those areas where they belong. And of course… let nature take its course from there.”

Read the full article on LHNet’s website.

Newsletter Christmas 2011

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 14:29:25 +0100

Dear LHNet followers!

Enjoy reading the Christmas newsletter 2011.

LHNet wishes you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Photo credits: T. Kaminski, T. Sipko, J. Exalto, P. Kaczensky, K. Zub, S. Zacek Wild Wonders of Europe, unknown author.

Pamir Argali in Tajikistan: Sustainable Hunting Stabilizes Population

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 12:59:39 +0100

Pamir Argali in Tajikistan: Sustainable Hunting Stabilizes Population

Recently published advertisements and infomercials on hunting of Pamir argali (also known as Marco Polo sheep or scientifically as Ovis ammon polii) made reference to Pamir argali numbers and hunting in Tajikistan. These publications have not always used reliable sources, correct population numbers and authoritative connected information.

The CIC Division Applied Science , in cooperation with local and international experts who monitor Pamir argali populations and control the annual hunting harvest in the country, takes therefore the opportunity to inform wild sheep enthusiasts, conservationists and mountain hunters of the actual situation in Tajikistan. For the hunting season 2011/2012 a total quota of 80 permits for Pamir argali was authorized by the Government of Tajikistan. All permits were allocated to the Association of Hunters of Tajikistan, an association of five large hunting concessionaires.

Efforts to organize trans-boundary cooperation on monitoring, protection, preservation of migration routes and hunting management are being worked on. It is hoped that listing of Pamir argali under the CMS will foster further cooperation amongst range states and contribute to the sustainable use of Pamir argali for the benefit of local people and the conservation of the species and its habitats.

The reinvestment of part of the hunting proceeds into conservation and their use for rural development together with the anti-poaching efforts of the hunting concessionaires have stabilized Pamir argali numbers and contributed to population growth. Further hunting bans would clearly be counterproductive as far as the future of these fabulous wild sheep is concerned. The CIC is supporting the ongoing efforts of the Pamir argali conservation partners in Tajikistan. Read the whole news item.

For more information on this species visit our website

Group of young male Argalis running on hillside

Fresh Efforts to Conserve Bukhara Deer

CMS/UNEP — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:40:13 +0100

News item from the CMS/UNEP News center:

Fresh Efforts to Conserve Bukhara Deer and Other Endangered Species in Asia

Wed, Nov 23, 2011

Central Asia is one of the few regions with a largely coherent network of diverse ecosystems. Bactrian camels, Saiga antelopes and gazelles depend on these ecosystems, while preserving them at the same time.

Bergen/Norway, 23 November 2011 - Almost half a century ago, the Bukhara deer - a species endemic to Central Asia - disappeared from the forests along the Syrdarya river in Kazakhstan due to unsustainable agricultural practices, logging and shrub felling on river banks, overgrazing by livestock, and uncontrolled hunting.

This flagship species of Central Asia has since been reintroduced to Karatchingil in Kazakhstan and Badai-tugai in Uzbekistan thanks to the conservation efforts of Central Asian governments to protect the natural habitat, locally known as tugai forests, which are characterized by thickets of trees and grassy clearings interspersed with wetlands.

Click here to read the whole the item.

Click here to read more about the Bukhara deer.

bukhara deer calf from one of the projects

LHNet Library optimisation

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:29:33 +0100

The library has been updated, reorganized and optimized

Did you know LHNet has a library? LHNet is permanentely collecting articles, reports about LHNet related activities and started a video collection. The goal of this library is to provide a broad collection about large herbivores and other topic related materials in an easy accesible way. Feel free to contact LHNet and provide us with links or documents to add to the LHNet library.

How does it work?

Library items are now displayed at all related pages on LHNet’s website. In this way, you as a website visitor, can easily access library information from the species database, landscape database and on LHNet’s expert profile pages.

Try out this new feature by going to:

Library, articles
Species database, wisent
Landscape database, Caucasus
Expert profile page

Visit the website and enjoy the benefits of this optimization.

This image shows the library items displayed at the Wisent Database page.
By clicking on an item you can simply read it.

The bison returns to Danish wildlife

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:20:35 +0100

Four million Danish kroner for the reintroduction of European bison on Bornholm

The Villum Foundation has given 4 million Danish kroner to enable the Ministry of Environment to reintroduce the European bison in the forest Almindingen on the Danish island of Bornholm.

During 2012, a small herd of the European bison, also known as the Wisent, will be transported from Poland to the forest Almindingen on the Danish island of Bornholm. The seven bison will be part of a breeding program that aims to save the European bison from extinction.

The project has been on its way for several years and has now been made possible due to a generous donation by the Villum Foundation.

- This is exactly the type of projects that I hope we will see more of in the future. In cooperation with the private sector, we are able to do so much more for the environment – and we do several things right here. We are helping one of Europe’s most endangered species, we are testing new ways to create bright forests with open meadows, which will benefit many species, and I am quite certain that the bison will attract a lot of attention from both tourists and the people of Bornholm, says Minister of the Environment Ida Auken.

The last wild bison was shot in the Caucasus in 1927, but due to a successful breeding program based on 50 bison from European zoos, the population of bison is now reaching numbers between 2500 and 3000 animals.

- We hope that this donation will generate the right conditions in order to save the European bison from extinction. It is a very exciting project, which will contribute to promoting the natural historical conscience and interest of all visitors to Bornholm, says Chairman of the Villum Foundation Lars E. Kann-Rasmussen.

The seven bison – six cows and one bull – will be living the first five years in a fenced off area with fences stretching more than six kilometres. The area will be accessible through gates, which will ensure that the island’s traffic can pass easily through the area. As the bison is not in any way dangerous to humans, the public has full access to the forest.

- It is my hope that our bison will have a positive effect on the wild nature of Bornholm. I also hope that the project will help to attract many curious visitors as eco-tourism is becoming more and more popular. This will hopefully turn out to be a success for both the bison, nature and the people of Bornholm, says Minister of the Environment Ida Auken.

The bison will be inspected regularly by the Nature Agency assisted by veterinary authorities. Information about the bison’s effect on nature, outdoor recreation, and the animals’ wellbeing will be gathered. When the five-year project comes to an end, the people of Bornholm will get the opportunity to decide whether they want the bison to stay on Bornholm of if they prefer the breeding program to continue elsewhere.

Find more information about the European bison on the Nature Agency’s website.

Press release, 30th of November 2011, additional information:

Chief Forest Officer Søren Friese, the Nature Agency, phone: 3094 6237
Gaming Consultant Tommy Hansen, the Nature Agency, phone: 7254 3138
Biologist Erling Krabbe, the Nature Agency, phone: 2177 6927
Press Officer Signe Vestergaard, the Ministry of Environment, phone: 2250 9029