Watch: Massive Wild Bison Round-up in Moscow
The fugitive wisents from a breeding ground in the Moscow Region have returned and today were shown to the public. 3 months of wandering made the animals forget about people but this journey has become a great preparation for an independent life in the wild. Soon, the wisents will be sent to one of the Russian nature reserves. What tricks did zoologists use? And how did the weather help? We'll hear from Sergei Samokha.
The young bulls are cautiously looking at strangers and trying to drive the females deeper into the woods. They were born and raised at the area where no visitors were allowed. They are not used to seeing people.
There they are, the recovered wisents. They are quite young, 3-4 years old, and basically wild. Being prepared for release into nature, they have very little contact with humans, which is why we make them scared. And if we get any closer, they might run away again.
The return of the herd has been expected here for 3 months. In May, the wisents ran away through a hole in the fence, made by a hurricane. They were found quite quickly, a mere 18 km away from home, but the wisent is a large and rather fierce beast, as well as stubborn — it'll never follow the shepherd. And using force was absolutely out of the picture.
Sergei Maslov, Ecologist at Prioksky Nature Reserve: "It's almost in their DNA that they don't go where you want them to, always trying to break through. So herding them in is very hard".
The only way to get the fugitives back is by using their instincts, but a bait of fragrant hay and sweet clover didn't work. The forest in summer is full of food. The only solution was to wait. The staff of the nature reserve expected the wisents to return in winter — when the snow covers grass, but it worked out differently.
In the end, the wisents came back themselves — the weather played along. This September was dry, hot and almost without rains. All forest brooks dried out, and the animals, driven by thirst, came to their home pen on their own. The watering troughs full of water were already waiting for them.
The fugitive herd was raised in an enclosed area, far away from people. The wisents were supposed to be set free into the wild, so this escape is believed to be a good thing. In the 3 months of living in the woods, the animals have gained invaluable experience and learned how to live on their own.
Evgeny Grigoryev, Head of the Prioksky Nature Reserve: "Three months of living in the wild didn't go unnoticed. They became wild. They are ready to live in nature".
This winter the herd is going to be set free in one of the forests in the Central Black Earth Region. The exact place is kept secret to protect the wisents from the poachers.
Sergey Samokha, Pyotr Shmelkov, Dmitri Sorokin. Vesti.