2025 was a landmark year for the European Wildlife Comeback Fund, demonstrating just how much this flexible funding approach can achieve in scaling up wildlife reintroductions across Europe.
In a historic step for rewilding in Spain, nine European bison have been released for the first time in the Iberian Highlands. As part of an international study, they will help unlock vital insights into how bison can restore ecosystems across Europe, while also bringing renewed hope and opportunity to the local community of El Recuenco.
Nestled in Bulgaria’s Rhodope Mountains, Zhenda is poised to become a beacon of nature recovery. As they take bold steps to unlock the site’s rewilding potential, the Rewilding Rhodopes team are working towards a wilder future where nature and people thrive together.
A decade on from the first release of European bison in the Southern Carpathians, two new groups have just arrived in the landscape. The animals will support further population growth and enhance genetic diversity, amplifying the positive climate, biodiversity and community impact of this iconic keystone species.
A new calf has just been born to the free-roaming bison herd in the Rhodope Mountains rewilding area in Bulgaria. This shows the animals are settling in well and advances the local rewilding process.
European bison are now roaming free in the Rhodope Mountains of Bulgaria for the first time since the Middle Ages. This will help to boost local biodiversity and underpin the development of nature-based tourism.
The transport of female bison to the release site in the Țarcu Mountains and breeding centre in Hunedoara will enhance the genetic viability of the area’s free-roaming herds and help to minimise the need for future long-distance translocations.
The reintroduction of another European bison herd in the Southern Carpathians rewilding area continues efforts to establish a viable, free-roaming population of this keystone species. This will further increase the benefits to both wild nature and local communities.
How can wild nature help to develop a region? At the beginning of May a group of social entrepreneurship professors and students met with community representatives in the Southern Carpathians rewilding area for a brainstorming session. The ideas they generated will help to develop nature-based business and reinforce the connection between people and locally reintroduced bison.
Until they become acclimatised to fully wild conditions, bison reintroduced into the Southern Carpathians of Romania may be tempted to approach farms and villages looking for food, especially during periods of harsh weather. The local rewilding team monitors the bison – and provides villagers with guidance and information – to ensure both animals and people remain safe at all times.
