The runaway wisent herd came back to the territory of the Prioksko-Terrasny Zapovednik.

The story about the herd of young wisents, which left the Main Wisent Breeding Center, comes to its happy ending. After the herd was found, Serpukhov region administration called for the team of our reserve and our helpers to protect the animals day and night and to do everything to direct them back to the territory of the reserve. Journalists, which were very sympathetic of our trouble, helped us too.

After the impounding of June 14 we decided to leave the animals alone for some time. We noticed that they followed the path, which lead them out from the Center so we hope that they will follow it by themselves to reach the well-known and calm territories. On Saturday, July 15 the wisents crossed the border of the reserve and came back to the protected area. Here nobody will hurt them and rangers can easier track their position.

Our rangers and wisent breeders are clearing the forest aisles, which were closed by the trees brought down by the recent storm, so that the animals could easier come back. We additionally give combined feed to the wisents. If everything goes as it is planned, the runaway animals will gradually come back to the Center by themselves.

The specialists underline, that today we know for sure, that the animals are ready for independent life on the forest. If Moscow region were less populated, the wisents could live here freely.

The Prioksko-Terrasny Zapovednik is grateful for your sympathy and help in such difficult situation. We still receive calls from people and even received a video of meeting the runaways in the woods. Please, stay in touch and find all recent information about the events on our web-site and pages on social networks to get data straight from the source. We share news about the situation regularly.

When the wisents finally come back, we will be happy to see you here. Don’t forget several carrots as a treat for our four-legged friends!

Sergey Maslov, Environmental Education and Educational Tourism Department Specialist