A visit to Pasiliai European Bison sanctuary in Lithuanina

On April 3rd 2019, a group of eight students from the Erasmus+ international project “Carry on the Flame” visited the Pasiliai European Bison Sanctuary in the north of Lithuania. The students took a guided tour round the area and learnt quite a few surprising facts about this endangered species. Among the most astonishing peculiarities typical of the European Bison is the fact that they can smell a human being within the distance of 500 metres and once they do, they run away deeper into the forest. Thus, it is hardly possible to encounter a bison in the wild. Fortunately, those in the conservation area are used to regular contact with human beings and our students had a wonderful opportunity not only to see them live, but also touch their noses and scratch their foreheads.

We also learnt a lot about the history of the sanctuary. Due to overhunting, the bison became totally extinct in Lithuania back in 1919 when the last bison was shot and in order to restore their population, the Bison Sanctuary of Pasiliai was established over 40 years ago. Currently, there are about 70 bisons living in the wild. However, they are still considered to be in danger of extinction and are included in the Red Book.

The bison specialist who gave us a tour of the area was very kind to give our students an interview about the European Bison. The video will be shown to our project partners at the end of April.