Born into herds in both the Armeniș and Poiana Ruscă rewilding areas, the four healthy calves show significant progress is being made in establishing a fully wild, viable bison population in this part of Romania.

As rangers at the second European bison reintroduction site in the Southern Carpathians rewilding area, the efforts of Marius Gârdean and Roland Hauptman have been vital to the success of the project. On the occasion of World Ranger Day, Rewilding Europe caught up with them to thank them for their ongoing support, and to learn more about their lives and work.

Rewilding Europe and WWF Romania are delighted to announce the successful reintroduction of 23 European bison at two sites in the Southern Carpathian mountains of Romania. The animals, which were sourced from nine European nature reserves and zoos, have been released over the course of several weeks. Ongoing rewilding efforts involving bison began in the Southern Carpathians in 2014. This reintroduction – the largest ever in the Carpathians – significantly advances the comeback of this magnificent species and takes the local population up to 53.  Around 30 of these animals are now freely roaming in the wild, with the recently released bison kept in enclosures until their full release later this year.

Last week, two European bison were released in the newly established bison release site at the foothills of Poiana Ruscă Mountains, part of the Southern Carpathians rewilding area. The bison were relocated from the Romanian bison reserve in Brasov county.

For Romanian photographer Dan Dinu, bringing youngsters closer to nature is all about 10 special words.

A four-day digital workshop held last December in the Southern Carpathians rewilding area saw participants brainstorm new ways to mitigate human-bison conflict.

The European Union’s multi-annual financial framework is currently being reviewed for the post-2020 period. Rewilding Europe, together with a number of other leading European conservation NGOs in the European Habitats Forum, is calling for the budget of the LIFE programme to be significantly increased, along with a range of other amendments.

Teams exchange insight and experience, while Polish history of bison reintroduction bodes well for the Romanian rewilding programme.

The two-year programme will encourage more young Romanians to become involved in wild nature and forms part of a vision to use reintroduced bison as an engine for driving local development.

The exhibition, which will continue until 2021, depicts the ongoing bison reintroduction in the Southern Carpathians by Rewilding Europe and WWF Romania, with a special focus on reaching out to the younger generation.