Europe Killed Its Last Bison in 1927. Now There Are 12,000

The European bison went extinct in the wild in 1927. The entire species was reduced to fewer than 60 animals in zoos and private parks. Only 12 of those became the genetic founders of every bison alive today. Today, more than 12,000 European bison roam across roughly 20 countries. Over the last 10 years, the number of wild European bison has increased from 2,500 to 7,000. In 2025, the European Wildlife Comeback Fund supported 23 reintroduction initiatives across Europe, covering 17 species across nine countries. In early 2026, 18 bison were released in Azerbaijan's Shahdag National Park, bringing the total population there to around 90 animals — over a century after the species vanished from the region. JCT Growth + 2 The recovery began in 1954 when the first captive-bred bison walked free in Poland's Białowieża Forest. It accelerated through the 2000s and 2010s as conservation organisations pushed bison into new territories across the continent — Moldova, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Romania, Serbia, Portugal, and the UK. In 2022, European bison returned to Britain after a 6,000-year absence. A calf was born that September. Since then, a beetle declared extinct in the UK has been spotted at the site multiple times. A 2024 study using a model developed by scientists at the Yale School of the Environment found that grasslands in Romania's Țarcu Mountains where bison were reintroduced are now capturing roughly 10 times as much carbon as before the species arrived. In 2020, the IUCN downgraded the species from Vulnerable to Near Threatened — one of the rarest pieces of good news in modern conservation. Turrboo This is the full story of how Europe brought its largest land animal back from the dead. 📌 Sources: IUCN Bison Specialist Group — iucnredlist.org Rewilding Europe Wildlife Comeback Fund — rewildingeurope.com Yale School of the Environment / Current Biology — environment.yale.edu Wilder Blean Project — kentwidlife.org WWF Romania Țarcu Mountains — wwf.ro 00:00 The fastest large animal comeback in European history 00:54 How close the species came to total annihilation 01:45 Fewer than 60 survived — only 12 became founders 02:10 The Society for the Protection of the European Bison — 1922 02:17 Carefully managing bloodlines from those 12 founders 03:13 The numbers — 2,500 to 7,000 wild bison in a decade 03:45 Poland, Russia and Belarus — the three leading nations 04:11 What bison actually do to landscapes — ecosystem engineers 04:53 The Yale carbon capture discovery — Țarcu Mountains 05:23 Ten times more carbon — 43,000 cars off the road 05:44 The Wilder Blean project — first bison in Britain in 6,000 years 06:50 A beetle declared extinct in the UK — spotted at the site 07:12 Not everything has gone smoothly — the honest assessment 08:14 Portugal, Spain, Azerbaijan — the accelerating expansion 08:45 Frans Schepers — what rewilding actually means 09:02 Conclusion Follow Rewilded for more nature comeback stories: 🐦 X (Twitter): https://x.com/RewildedNow 📸 Instagram:   / rewildednow   📌 Pinterest:   / rewildedchannel   #EuropeanBison #Rewilding #Rewilded