Beavers: Nature’s Water Engineers in Białowieża Forest
Frequently asked questions Are there beavers in Białowieża Forest? Yes. Beavers are abundant in Białowieża Forest, where they engineer the wetland habitats that support a cascade of other wildlife. Their dams create ponds that attract otters, amphibians, and wading birds, and their felling of trees opens the forest canopy in ways that increase structural diversity. […]
The story and science behind the recent appearance of a bear in Białowieża Forest
Site Guide Plants & Animals Bears in Białowieża Forest Rare visitors and the complex history of bear reintroduction to Poland. This chapter is based on an article I originaly wrote for the Notes from Poland news site. The text documents the history, ecology and current status of bears in Białowieża Forest. Białowieża Forest is Europe’s […]
We recorded a bear in Białowieża Forest!
This beauty is the first bear ever filmed in Białowieża Forest. He stumbled onto one of our experimental plots last Friday. We’re over the moon as it’s the first bear documented in Białowieża Forest in over 50 years. Bears went extinct here at the end of the 19th century due to over-hunting. Apart from a […]
How to spot a wild European bison
Site Guide Plants & Animals How to spot a wild bison Behaviour, habitat and the best places to find Europe’s largest land mammal in the wild. Seeing a wild European bison is the highlight of many people’s trip to Białowieża Primeval Forest. Poland’s national animal is the icon of the forest and has a truly […]
The private life of wolves
We have more in common with wolves than meets the eye. And I’ve always felt that if more people knew this, it could help transform public opinion, making the species far easier to protect. But as it is, accurate accounts of these mysterious animals remain rare. This piece on the intimate private lives of wolves […]
The Wolf – Our research
We were recently overjoyed to hear that the Polish National Science Centre is to fund our further study of how wolves affect European ecosystems. This work will be a continuation of the now world-famous research coming out of Yellowstone National Park, where it was well established that the reintroduction of wolves repaired long lost ecological […]
The story of the bison of Białowieża Forest
Site Guide Plants & Animals The story of the European bison How the European bison went from extinction in the wild to roaming the forest once more. Europe’s biggest animal once roamed Europe’s vast primeval landscapes from Russia to Spain. But over the past millenium, the expanding human population drove its precipitous decline. People cut […]
Species threatened by logging in Białowieża Primeval Forest
Site Guide History & Conservation Lesser-known endangered species Beyond the bison: the beetles, birds and fungi that depend on old-growth to survive. The following are species negatively affected by excessive logging and removal of dead wood from Białowieża Forest. Most of these endangered species depend on an abundance of dead wood, which is why they […]
Bison in Poland. Where can we find them?
European Bison are Europe’s biggest land animal, which once roamed almost the entire continent from Russia to Spain. Their numbers gradually dwindled over the last millennium till only two populations survived – one in Białowieża Forest, and another in the Caucasus. These two lonesome populations existed for a couple of centuries, until ninety years ago […]
Wolves in Poland. Where can we find them?
Wolves in Poland have recovered remarkably over the past decade, with around 1500 of them now inhabiting the country. Only a few years ago wolves inhabited only the remote eastern forests and southern mountains. They can now be found all over Poland, even in woodlands adjacent to dense urban areas. Wolf populations in Poland Wolves […]