Originally published 2017-11-10.
In September 2017 a wild European bison crossed the Oder from Poland and turned up near Lebus, a small town in the German state of Brandenburg. A day after it was reported, on 13 September, the head of the local public order office decided it was a danger to the public, and two local hunters shot it. The bull was widely described as the first wild bison seen in Germany in more than 250 years, and the decision provoked national anger and a criminal complaint from WWF.
The case is a small story with large questions inside it: how should people live alongside big wild animals returning to Europe, who decides when one is dangerous, and what should happen next time?
What happened near Lebus
A passer-by spotted the animal grazing near the river, close to the Polish border. Once the authorities knew about it, within a day the local public order office ordered it killed. Two hunters carried out the order.
Polish authorities suggested the bull had probably come from the area around Ujście Warty National Park, on the Polish side of the border, where bison had been seen moving about. Young bulls are the members of a herd most likely to wander long distances, often in search of new territory.
A spokesperson for Brandenburg's own environment ministry said a tranquilliser dart from any country vet could have dealt with the risk, and the state's environment minister, Jörg Vogelsänger, said bison are not known to be dangerous. That made the decision look even harder to justify.
Why "first in 250 years" needs a footnote
Wild bison were wiped out across Germany by the 18th century, which is where the famous "250 years" figure comes from. The headline is broadly right, but two details are worth knowing.
- The species almost vanished everywhere. The last wild lowland bison was shot in Poland's Białowieża Forest in 1921, and the last wild Caucasian bison in 1927. Every bison alive today descends from just twelve founder animals kept in zoos and private parks.
- Germany already had a free-roaming herd before 2017. In April 2013 eight bison were released near Bad Berleburg in North Rhine-Westphalia, and that herd had grown to about 26 animals by 2020. What made the Lebus bull special was that it arrived on its own, as a genuinely wild immigrant.
How dangerous are European bison?
The European bison, or wisent, is the heaviest land animal in Europe. Adult bulls typically weigh between about 615 and 920 kilograms, and exceptional animals reach a tonne. Any animal of that size deserves respect.
In practice, wild bison are generally shy and avoid people. Serious incidents are rare, and they usually involve someone getting too close, a cornered animal, or a cow protecting a calf. That is a reason to keep distance and manage the situation, not a reason to shoot on sight. The original version of this story said "hundreds" of bison live wild in Poland; the real figure is much larger, with Poland counting about 2,270 animals in 2019 and more than 3,000 by 2025, most of them free-roaming.
If you ever meet a bison in the wild:
- Stay at least 50 metres away and never walk between a cow and her calf.
- Do not feed it or try to take a close photo.
- Keep dogs on a lead; bison may react to them as to a predator.
- Back away calmly and report the sighting to the local authorities or park staff.
The legal row and WWF's complaint
The European bison is strictly protected under the EU Habitats Directive and German nature conservation law. WWF Germany filed a criminal complaint against the head of the public order office, arguing that killing a strictly protected animal without a clear and present threat broke the Federal Nature Conservation Act. Christoph Heinrich, a WWF board member, summed up the frustration: "After more than 250 years a wild bison had been spotted again in Germany, and all the authorities could think to do is shoot it."
A complaint is not a verdict, and we could not confirm how the case was finally resolved. The more lasting result was political. In a written answer to the Brandenburg state parliament, the government explained that bison fall under hunting law, making hunting authorities responsible, and promised talks with local hunting and conservation offices plus an information sheet on the legal rules for dealing with bison.
Bison are coming back to Europe
From a handful of captive survivors a century ago, the European bison has become one of conservation's success stories. Breeding programmes and reintroductions in Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and elsewhere had built a world population of about 7,500 by 2019, roughly half of them in Poland and Belarus. In 2020 the IUCN improved its status from Vulnerable to Near Threatened.
Bison are also useful neighbours for nature. By grazing grass, browsing shrubs, rolling in dust baths and trampling paths, they keep woodland edges and meadows open, which creates space for wild flowers, insects and birds. Ecologists describe them as ecosystem engineers, much like elephants in Africa on a smaller scale.
That success means more animals will cross borders in the years ahead, just as wolves have returned to Germany from Poland, settling first in Lusatia, in eastern Saxony, around the year 2000 and spreading across much of the country since then. Germany learned to live with wolves through monitoring, compensation for livestock losses and public information, and the same tools can work for bison. The Lebus bull showed what happens when a region is unprepared. The lessons are practical: clear rules on who is responsible, vets ready to sedate and relocate animals, and local information so that a sighting prompts curiosity rather than alarm.
European Bison Coming Back to Forests in Germany by besartkurteshi
Sources: Landtag Brandenburg, printed paper 6/7508: Ist Brandenburg auf den nächsten Wisent vorbereitet?; European bison, Wikipedia; The Local: Germany's "first wild bison in 250 years" shot by authorities; Smithsonian Magazine: A wild bison was spotted in Germany for the first time in two centuries. Then it was shot; story first shared via Daily Mail and Mystical Raven; video by besartkurteshi on Dailymotion.
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