{"id":269289,"date":"2025-11-07T17:55:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T17:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/269289\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T17:55:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T17:55:15","slug":"sadness-as-uks-first-free-roaming-bison-passes-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/269289\/","title":{"rendered":"Sadness as UK’s ‘first’ free-roaming bison passes away"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DonovanDonovan Wright<\/p>\n

Three new calves have been born in the herd, said a wildlife trust<\/p>\n

Tributes have been paid to the matriarch of the UK’s only free-roaming bison herd after she passed away aged 21.<\/p>\n

The “pioneering” bison was among the first to roam freely in the country for thousands of years following her release in 2022 in Kent.<\/p>\n

Donovan Wright, bison and rewilding ranger at Wildwood Trust, said the matriarch was the “rock” of the herd. <\/p>\n

Her death comes days after the birth of the herd’s latest calf, bringing their number up to nine. <\/p>\n

Mr Wright said: “The matriarch shaped the project from the very first day. <\/p>\n

“She was the rock, the foundation of the herd, and the cornerstone of bison rewilding in the UK. <\/p>\n

“Her calmness and steady nature spread through the herd, changing how they interacted with one another, with the landscape, and with us.<\/p>\n

“When she led, they settled. When she paused, they listened. It was humbling watching her share that deep, ancient bison wisdom.”<\/p>\n

Wildwood Trust told the BBC she did not have a name as the team were reluctant to name wild animals. <\/p>\n

\"DonovanDonovan Wright<\/p>\n

The Blean Bison project is a “blueprint” for other wilding efforts, said a conservationist <\/p>\n

The herd has helped boost biodiversity by allowing more light into the forest through grazing, bark stripping and trampling.<\/p>\n

Conservationists said they hope the herd can expand its range from 50 to 200 hectares, with the creation of the UK’s first bison bridge<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Selected bison will be moved to other rewilding sites to support genetic diversity and help establish further herds across the country, they added. <\/p>\n

“The matriarch’s legacy goes far beyond this herd,” said Heidi Aguirregoicoa, Bison Ranger at Kent Wildlife Trust. <\/p>\n

She said the Blean Bison project has created a blueprint for new approaches to conservation across the UK. <\/p>\n

“Every change we’ve documented here – from woodland structure to species recovery to the regulatory changes we’re driving – now serves as a proven model for future rewilding efforts,” Ms Aguirregoicoa added. <\/p>\n

The herd now consists of nine bison – five calves and four adults – with a new lead female emerging naturally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Donovan Wright Three new calves have been born in the herd, said a wildlife trust Tributes have been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-269289","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}