The first major stopping point on our Europe 2023 tour was Bialowieza forest in Poland. Situated right on the border with Belarus this protected area contains the largest number of European Bison anywhere in the wild, plus several wolf packs, elk and lynx.

We spent a few nights in the area, staying in different car parks in and around the forest without being hassled or moved on. We were stopped once by the border police but after a very brief look in the motorhome they left us alone.

We had a couple of tours booked in so for two mornings in a row we got up at 4am and spent 3 hours in a stranger's car driving up and down all the single-track dirt roads that crisscrossed the forest. We were primarily looking for wolves, as that is the time they are most active and most easy to spot on the long straight tracks. 

Bison munching

The first morning we found a group of 3 bison munching their way through the woodland, we stopped and got out just a few metres away, watching them continue to browse completely unconcerned by our presence until they made their way deeper into the trees.

On the second morning we were fortunate enough to spot 3 wolves way up ahead. They disappeared into the trees pretty quickly and even after we walked down a side path and waited around 45 minutes we had no further sighting. Although we did have a couple of clearly very worried deer crash through the trees and across the path in front of us so obviously the wolves were still nearby!

The other tour was a guided walk through a part of the strictly protected area, a reserve within a reserve which is the closes thing to primeval forest left in Europe. Here no human activity is allowed other than the guided walks and scientific research. Unfortunately though as our guide explained the number of refugees attempting to cross from Belarus has meant not only a significant number of border police patrolling the area but also a very high fence which cuts right through Bialowieza which of course prevents the passage of animals as well as humans.

Bison Rewilding

In 1927 there were less than 50 European Bison remaining in the world. Today there are around 9,000 spread across Europe with the largest population in Poland and Belarus so it is not surprising that Bialowieza, sitting largely unspoilt on the border between the two countries, has the highest concentration of Bison anywhere. The reintroductions in Poland over the last few decades have been so successful that Polish Bison are now being used in rewilding projects throughout Europe - being transported long distances to create new herds and play a pivotal role in their ecosystems. We even have a small rewilding project in Kent which is home to a handful of Bison free roaming around the woodlands.

We have visited a few areas where Bison are being reintroduced on previous trips - in particular the Southern Carpathian Mountains in Romania, and while we didn’t come across any Bison in the wild we did see them in their temporary enclosure where they were acclimatising to their new environment before their final release.