BISON ARE BEST
Following the successful re-introduction into Britain of several notable species that had become extinct here in modern times – such as the European beaver, white-tailed sea eagle, and wild boar (albeit an unplanned one in the lastmentioned case, arising via escapees from farms soon establishing thriving populations) – the rewilding project has gone much further back in time, roughly 6,000 years. That was when the steppe bison last existed, having formerly inhabited the British Isles, mainland Europe, northern Asia,, which is the largest living species of land mammal in Europe, weighing up to a ton, made a much-heralded return to Britain on behalf of the bison lineage. For this was when three specimens (an adult female, and two juveniles – they will soon be joined by a young bull) were released into a large fenced-off enclosure in West Blean and Thornden Woods, an expanse of ancient woodland near Canterbury in Kent.
