Three wild European bison died on Sunday morning after being hit by a train in Poland’s UNESCO-listed vast Białowieża Forest, which straddles the border with Belarus, local police told AFP.
A herd of Europe’s largest mammals, whose male specimens can weigh 900 kilograms, wandered onto the tracks as a locomotive carrying about 50 passengers between Białystok and Warsaw steamed ahead.
“No passengers were injured, but three animals lost their lives in this accident, which happened at 7 am near the village of Witowo,” spokesman Konrad Karwacki told AFP on Sunday.
The Żubr train, which takes its name from the Polish word for bison, did not derail and was able to resume its journey about an hour and a half after the collision.
Biodiversity
About 1,200 bison, an emblematic animal in the Eastern European country, currently reside in the Polish part of the Great Białowieża Forest, considered the last ancient forest in Europe.
The forest is a treasure of biodiversity and a giant carbon sink. However, several bison fall victim to road accidents in the region every year.
“They are sometimes hit by trains, but these are usually isolated incidents,” Professor Rafal Kowalczyk, from a local branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences, told AFP.
“I don’t recall an accident where three bison were killed at the same time, being hit by a train,” added the mammal specialist.
Saved from extinction
Devastated by hunting, deforestation, and expanding agriculture, the European bison nearly disappeared in the early 20th century.
After disappearing from Białowieża, its last habitat in Europe, before the outbreak of World War II, the species was rescued at the eleventh hour thanks to the release of zoo-raised bison back into the wild.
IN most recent assessment by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2020, the European bison population was estimated at just over 2,500 and, although increasing, is still placed in the borderline category of “near threatened”.
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