Pubal ( or , born ) was a male
European bison
The European bison (''Bison bonasus'') or the European wood bison, also known as the wisent ( or ), the zubr (), or sometimes colloquially as the European buffalo, is a European species of bison. It is one of two extant species of bison, along ...
, or zubr, that became renowned in southeast
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
for his friendly interactions with humans and unwillingness to reintegrate into the wild. Media coverage of his numerous escapes from captivity to seek out human contact earned him a degree of popularity with the public. He has been described as one of the most famous zubrs ever and the only known case of an individual of his species retaining friendly contact with humans throughout his life.
History
On 26 July 2005, a lone bison
calf
Calf most often refers to:
* Calf (animal), the young of domestic cattle.
* Calf (leg), in humans (and other primates), the back portion of the lower leg
Calf or calves may also refer to:
Biology and animal byproducts
* Veal, meat from calves
* ...
was discovered and rescued by
charcoal burner
A charcoal burner is someone whose occupation is to manufacture charcoal. Traditionally this is achieved by carbonising wood in a charcoal pile or kiln.
Charcoal burning is one of the oldest human crafts. The knowledge gained from this industr ...
s, in
Rabe near
Baligród
Baligród ( uk, Балигород, ''Balyhorod'') is a village in Lesko County, in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (province) of south-eastern Poland. It is also the seat of the municipality (''gmina'') called Gmina Baligród. Location: 49°21' ...
, after a flood swept across the
Bieszczady Mountains
Bieszczady Mountains ( pl, Bieszczady; sk, Beščady; uk, Бещади; hu, Besszádok) is a mountain range that runs from the extreme south-east of Poland and north-east of Slovakia through to western Ukraine. It forms the western part of th ...
.
He was said to be no more than two days old judging by the umbilical cord remnants that were still present; it was speculated that the male calf was separated from his mother by the flood and thrown onto the road by the rising water levels.
After waiting with him for several days for the possibility of his mother returning, the calf was taken into the care of local
forester
A forester is a person who practises forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including ecological restoration and management of protected areas. Foresters manage forests to ...
s, who named him "Pubal". Officially Pubal was not supposed to have a name as they are not given to wild animals, but the rangers who raised him and looked after him prior to his departure from the region started calling him "Pubal"; the letters "P" and "U" are reserved for the
Białowieża
Białowieża ( be, Белавежа, Biełavieža) is a village (population 2,000 as of 2002) in Poland's Podlasie Province, in the middle of the Białowieża Forest, to which it gave its name. The village is some east of Hajnówka and southe ...
-Caucasus race of the European bison species, while the ending "bal" comes from ''Nadleśnictwo Baligród'' or the Baligród Forestry. For nine months, the Baligród forester Witold Szybowski and his wife Urszula looked after the young zubr, initially feeding him milk with a baby bottle.
Kompania Piwowarska
Kompania Piwowarska is a Polish brewing group based in Poznań, established in 1999. Since 2017 it has been owned by Asahi Breweries. Kompania Piwowarska currently has three breweries: Lech Browary Wielkopolski in Poznań, Tyskie Browary Książ ...
, the brewing company of the popular
Żubr beer brand, donated 2400
złoty to cover some of the growing bison's feeding costs. In April 2006, Pubal was released into the wild near a zubr herd, but he soon lost interest in rejoining his own species and continued to seek out human contact – at one point interrupting the picnic of a family of tourists and frightening them, before the group realised that he was not aggressive and completely tame.
The plan to reintroduce Pubal into the wild was carefully managed to potentially increase the genetic diversity of the group of bison that were supposed to be his new herd, but even though he was spotted in their vicinity, Pubal was relatively quickly seen on his own again, trying to find humans. Initially he was released into the valley of the
San river, but due to his constant encounters with tourists Pubal was moved back to a sizeable enclosure in
Wola Michowa with an older zubr named "Bolo"; this was done in hopes of getting him used to the company of his own species and to encourage Pubal to start finding his own sources of food. By early 2007, Pubal continued to resist all efforts made at reintegrating him into the wild by breaking out of his enclosures multiple times; when roaming free he was often seen wandering around local villages, approaching humans for food, walking between houses, interacting with people, and following cars.
Since Pubal weighed 250 kilograms (over 550 lbs) at this point and there were concerns that he could harm someone when frightened, a decision was made that he must leave the
Bieszczady area permanently. In spring of 2007, the almost two-year-old bison was transported northwest to become the semen provider at a
żubroń
Żubroń (; pl, żubroń ) is a Hybrid (biology), hybrid of domestic cattle and wisent. The wisent (''żubr'' in Polish) is the European bison; hence, the żubroń is analogous to the American beefalo. The name żubroń was officially chosen from ...
(domestic
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...
and zubr hybrid) breeding farm in
Karolew.
The owner of the farm, Henryk Ordanik, had heard about Pubal on TV; Ordanik worked together with the foresters under the approval of the authorities to secure Pubal's role as a semen provider at his farm.
The
Subcarpathian rangers who had up until this point been looking after Pubal condemned the actions of a tour guide who had lured the animal out of his enclosure into a local town, further reinforcing Pubal's old habits of relying on people feeding him.
As of September 2009, Pubal was still taking an active part in experimental żubroń breeding efforts at the facility in Karolew with a degree of success in their results.
His status since then is unclear, though some sources from 2017 state that Pubal died.
Legacy
In addition to the widespread media coverage of his friendly encounters with local villagers and tourists alike, Pubal has also been mentioned in a number of books and articles.
A poem and an award-winning ballad have also been written about him.
In 2007,
TVP3 Rzeszów
TVP3 Rzeszów is one of the regional branches of the Telewizja Polska, TVP, Poland's public television broadcaster. It serves the entire Podkarpackie Voivodeship.
External links Official website
Telewizja Polska
Television channels and st ...
created and broadcast a short documentary film about Pubal entitled ''Żubra żal'' –
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
for "Regret of the Bison" or "Bison's Regret".
Directed by Jacek Szarek, it received accolades such as first place at the Ninth International Touristic Film Festival "TOUR - FILM" in
Poznań
Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...
and was later shown to pupils at primary schools in May 2008. Although a few stories of long and solitary bison journeys have appeared in Polish history prior to this one from the mid-2000s—such as the case of ''Pulpit'' and ''Pulon'' from the 1960s—none of them featured as much and as close interaction with humans as that of Pubal.
Notes
References
{{Reflist
2005 animal births
Bison
Individual bovines