European Bison

The European bison or wisent is the largest land mammal surviving in Europe. Males may reach a weight of 1000 kgs, ahead-body-length of 290 cm and a shoulder height of up to 200 cm. The tail is about 80 cm long. The neck is short and thick, topped by a shoulder hump. The head is broad and short. The horns, found in both sexes, project outwards and then curve upwards and slightly forwards.

The coat is dense and dark brown to golden brown in colour. There is longer hair on the neck, which forms a short mane on the underside. There is a curly mop of hair on the forehead and a short beard on the chin.

The wisent inhabits mixed deciduous forests with interspersed meadows and mosses. It is active throughout the day, though the distribution of activity is affected by food supply. In the summer, feeding occurs primarily in the morning and evening, and rarely at night.

Rutting season is in August and September. After a gestation period of 254-272 days usually one single calf is born with a birth weight of about 30 kgs. The calfs are weaned at 6-8 months. Sexual maturity is reached at 2-4 years. The life span is up to 27 years.

Some authors consider the American bison and the wisent to be conspecific, grouping the two into a single species. The wisent's hindquarters are somewhat larger than those of the American bison, and the head is carried higher. The two taxa can interbreed and produce fertile offspring.

For road transport, in general, a trailer is used. Because of the large size of wild cattle, the use of a crate is generally not recommended except for transport of juvenile or sub-adult animals or for air transport. When transporting wild cattle in a trailer, animals should be singly-stalled and stalls should be partitioned in such a way that the animal has enough room to lie down and stand up, but not turn around. Too much space allows the animal to jump up, potentially injuring itself.