European Bison 7^ 



In the spring of 1865 four bison were presented to the Prince of Pless, in 

 Silesia, and in 1S67 the Zoological Gardens o-f Gatschina received seven 

 examples, and others two years later. In 1873 a pair was presented to 

 Constantinople, and a second pair to Berlin. A total of thirty-one head 

 are thus known to have been presented up to 187:;, since which date 

 there is no definite record that any live bison have been exported, althou"-h 

 there is a statement that in 1893 ^^'^ ^^^'^^ were sent to the Prince of Pless 

 for the repleni^hment of his small Silesian herd. 



Mention has already been made of the diminution of the herd during 

 the first Polish uprising, when it lost 115 head. A similar loss occurred 

 at the second revolution. And whereas in 1862 the herd comprised 11 24 

 adult and 127 young animals, in the following year the number of the 

 former fell to 795 and that of the latter to 79 ; the total loss thus 

 being 277- Although it is commonly stated that the loss was due to 

 the revolutionists shooting down the bison in mass, this is incorrect. The 

 true cause was that Bielowitza lay right in the line of confiict between the 

 revolutionists and the Russian troops, so that the animals perished in a 

 miscellaneous manner. 



Human toes are not, however, the only ones against whom the bison 

 have to contend, bears and wolves being their deadly enemies, while it is 

 probable that many calves are killed by lynxes. As far back as 1855 we 

 read that in the summer a great war of extermination was waged against 

 the four-footed toes ot the bison. Another great hunt took place in 1861, 

 when the bears were well-nigh extirpated. In 1870 forty wolves, one 

 bear, and five lynxes were accounted for ; while in the following year the 

 number killed comprised sixty-three wolves, one bear, and five lynxes. A 

 commission which visited the forest in 1871 took especial pains in the 

 formation ot plans for the destruction of the carnivora, with the result that 

 wolves became so scarce that in 1889 only one, in 1890 five, and 1891 six, 

 were all that could be killed. In the official tables the number of bison 



