The Carpathian wisent (''Bison bonasus hungarorum'') was a
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
of the
European bison that inhabited the
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...
,
Moldavia and
Transylvania. It may also have lived in what are today
Ukraine and
Hungary.
It began to die out about a hundred years earlier than its very close cousin, the
Caucasian wisent, probably because it lived nearer to the more densely populated
Central Europe. Humans encroached on its habitat and overhunted the bison. The last Carpathian wisent was shot in
Máramaros in 1852. The subspecies is now entirely extinct.
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. The
rewilding area hosted a population of 30 animals by the end of 2017.
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
*
List of extinct animals of Europe
References
External links
The Extinction Website - Carpathian European Bison - ''Bison bonasus hungarorum''
Bison
Extinct mammals of Europe
Species made extinct by human activities
Mammal extinctions since 1500
{{eventoedungulate-stub