Wolves seen hunting European bison in rare camera-trap recording
Wolves are making a comeback in many parts of Europe John Ceulemans/Shutterstock Deep in the Polish wilderness, a camera trap has captured a pack of wolves hunting down a juvenile bison. The rare footage suggests that in Europe, bison might be on the menu for wolves more commonly than previously thought. “My mind was blown,” says Robin Wijnands at the Polish Academy of Sciences. “I was really surprised because I really didn’t expect wolves to hunt bison, especially when there are so many other prey available in the forest.” The European bison (Bison bonasus) was once widespread in Europe, but became extinct in nature at the beginning of the last century due to hunting and habitat loss. Conservation efforts allowed the species to be saved from the brink and reintroduced into the wild in the 1950s. There are now around 9000 individuals living in scattered populations across the continent. Wolves have also been thriving in Europe recently, their numbers increasing by 58 per cent over the past decade. Yet, only a few cases of wolves …
