58 
JOUENAL OF MAMMALOGY 
THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE EUROPEAN BISON OR 
WISENT 
By Theodok G. Ahrens 
Originally there existed two types or species of wild oxen in Europe: 
The ur (urus), auerochs, Slavonic tur = Bos primigenius; and the 
wisent, Polish zubr, Roumanian zimbr = Bos honasus L. or Bison 
europaeus. 
The ur had no mane, resembled our domestic cattle, but had larger 
horns. The wisent has a mane, long hair on neck and shoulders, a 
hump, short horns and is a counterpart of our American bison. The 
ur became extinct in Europe, with the exception of Russia and Poland, 
in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. 
Aristotle mentions the wisent in his history of animals with the title 
of “bonasos’^; Pliny, Calpurnius Siculus, and Seneca describe it, refer- 
ring to the Paeonian species. Pausanias and Dio Cassius (150-235 
A.D.) speak of the wisents as ‘‘Paeonian bulls.’^ Wisents and urs 
lived in Switzerland in the middle ages, but became extinct in France 
before 1400. The wisent is mentioned in Sweden in the eleventh 
century and wisent hunts are described in the Vilkina-saga, written in 
the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The wisent may have existed 
in England in the twelfth century, if certain references in the literature 
of the time may be believed, but the so-called “Wildwith cattle” in 
Chilhngham Park and other herds of half-wild cattle in private estates 
are presumably descendants of the ur. 
A classic mention of both species of wild cattle is to be found in the 
Nibelungenlied, the celebrated middle high German epic. Here the 
exploits of Siegfried, the principal hero of the poem, during a hunt in 
the Odenwald are described: 
Dar nach sluoc er sciere einen wisent und einen elch, 
Starker ure viere 
(After which he slew quickly a wisent and an elk, four powerful urs . . . .) 
It should be mentioned that the words “auerochs” and “ur” have 
caused much confusion. These expressions were generally used for the 
wisent after the extinction of the ur in Germany. The word “wisent” 
was forgotten and did not come again into use until 1850, but has been 
generally used again since 1880. As “auerochs” was the official name 
for wisent — bison — zubr (Polish for wisent) from 1450 to 1850, we may 
be pretty sure that when “auerochs” is used in the literature of this 
