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European bison, Białowieża National Park.

A herd of bison grazing on the prairie with mountains in the background. A large bull looks out towards the camera.

Frontal close up of an European bison (Bos bonasus)

photo of a wisent (Bos bonasus) in the wilderness

$The European bison (Bison bonasus), also known as the wisent, or the European wood bison, is a Eurasian species of bison. It is one of two extant species of bison, alongside the American bison. Three subspecies existed in the recent past, but only one, the nominate subspecies (B. b. bonasus), survives today. Analysis of mitochondrial genomes and nuclear DNA revealed that the wisent is theoretically the result of hybridisation between the extinct steppe bison (Bison priscus) and the ancestors of the aurochs (Bos primigenius) since their genetic material contains up to 10% aurochs DNA sequences. Alternatively, the Pleistocene woodland bison has been suggested as the ancestor to the species. \nEuropean bison were hunted to extinction in the wild in the early 20th century, with the last wild animals of the B. b. bonasus subspecies being shot in the Białowieża Forest (on the Belarus-Poland border) in 1921, and the last of B. b. caucasus in the northwestern Caucasus in 1927. B. b. hungarorum was hunted to extinction in the mid-1800s. The Białowieża or lowland European bison was kept alive in captivity, and has since been reintroduced into several countries in Europe. They are now forest-dwelling. The species has had few recent predators besides humans, with only scattered reports from the 19th century of wolf and bear predation. European bison were first scientifically described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Some later descriptions treat the European bison as conspecific with the American bison. It is not to be confused with the aurochs, the extinct ancestor of domestic cattle. \nIn 1996, the International Union for Conservation of Nature classified the European bison as an endangered species. Its status has since been changed to being a vulnerable species. In the past, especially during the Middle Ages, it was commonly killed for its hide and to produce drinking horns. \nThe European bison is a national animal of Poland and Belarus (source Wikipedia).$