Europe's largest 80 stone mammal returns to British countryside for first time since the Ice Age
27.10.2022 - 13:27
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
An 80 stone creature which has not been recorded in the UK since the Ice age is now once again freely roaming the land as Europe's largest mammal returns to the British countryside. The species which are extraordinarily rare in the UK, known as wild bison are living in the vast stretch of West Blean and Thornden woods near Canterbury in Kent.
There is not just one of the beast, but four, although one is only a baby, making it the first of it's kind to be born in the UK for at least 6,000 years, the Mirror reports. An Irish bison gave birth to the calf last month on September, 9 which is the first wild bison the country has seen being born in over six decades after the animals were hunted into extinction thousands of years ago.
The birth of the little bison which even came as a surprise to the rangers, comes after three female beasts were released into the woods in July, one from Scotland and the others from Ireland. Tom Gibbs says: “It is difficult to detect pregnancy in bison as they naturally conceal it to avoid being hunted by predators.
''In the weeks leading up to the birth, while the other two would either be eating, digesting or just taking in their surroundings, she would always be eating. We thought, ‘OK, she loves her food’, but she was eating for two!”
Mirror reporter, Sanjeeta Bains, recalls her experience shadowing Ranger, Tom Gibbs for the day who looks after the wild bison.
When I join the rangers for the day, Tom, 32, is already at the corral handling facility, having started work at 7.30am. He and colleague Donovan Wright are the UK’s first bison rangers, picked from 1,000 people who applied for the jobs from all around the world.
The corral, where veterinary checks are carried out, reminds me of the