The Carpathian wisent (Bison bonasus hungarorum) was a subspecies of the European bison that inhabited the Carpathian Mountains, Moldavia and Transylvania. It may also have lived in what are today Ukraine and Hungary.
Carpathian wisent | |
---|---|
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Family: | Bovidae |
Subfamily: | Bovinae |
Genus: | Bison |
Species: | |
Subspecies: | †B. b. hungarorum |
Trinomial name | |
†Bison bonasus hungarorum ( Kretzoi, 1946) |
It began to die out about a hundred years earlier than its very close cousin, the Caucasian wisent, probably because it lived nearer to Central Europe. The last Carpathian wisent was shot in Máramaros in 1852[1] and the subspecies is now entirely extinct.[2]
Wisents descended from the Polish population were reintroduced into the southern Carpathians by Rewilding Europe and the World Wide Fund for Nature starting in 2014, and the rewilding area hosted a population of 30 animals by the end of 2017.[3]
Description
The Carpathian wisent resembled the European bison in that coat was dense and dark brown to golden brown. The neck was short, maned, and thick, topped by a shoulder hump. The head is relatively high. The horns, found in both sexes, projected outwards and curved upwards and slightly forwards.
See also
References
- ^ "După 200 de ani, zimbrul se întoarce în Carpaţi FOTOGALERII". archive.is. 23 March 2012. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012.
- ^ Tokarska, M.; et al. (2011). "Genetic status of the European bison Bison bonasus after extinction in the wild and subsequent recovery". Mammal Review. 41 (2): 151–162. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2907.2010.00178.x.
- ^ "Southern Carpathians". Rewilding Europe.
External links
- The Extinction Website - Carpathian European Bison - Bison bonasus hungarorum.
- European bison / Wisent