This giant animal vanished from Britain 6,000 years ago. Now it is back as a ‘forest engineer’

For thousands of years, European bison were absent from Britain. That changed in July 2022, when the first animals were released into West Blean and Thornden Woods near Canterbury, Kent, as part of a pioneering conservation project. The animals are not being brought back simply because they are an iconic species. Conservationists are interested in what bison can do to the landscape itself. Their grazing, browsing, bark stripping, trampling and dustbathing can alter woodland structure and create different habitats for plants, insects, birds and other wildlife.

Why were European bison brought back?

The project, known as Wilder Blean, is being led by Kent Wildlife Trust and Wildwood Trust. The organisations describe European bison as ecosystem engineers, meaning animals whose natural behaviour can physically change their surroundings and influence the habitats available to other species. Rewilding Britain explains that European bison shape landscapes through behaviours including grazing, foraging, wallowing, trampling, bark stripping and seed dispersal. Their movements can help create a mosaic of woodland, scrub and more open areas rather than leaving forests with a uniform structure.

This matters because different wildlife species depend on different conditions. Open, sunlit patches can support plants and insects that struggle under a dense canopy, while standing deadwood created when bison strip bark can become useful to insects and birds.

What do bison actually do to a forest?

The giant animals can have an unexpectedly varied impact on their surroundings. According to Kent Wildlife Trust, bison eat bark and create dust baths, with both behaviours providing benefits for plants and animals. Their presence also restores natural processes that the organisation says have been missing from UK woodlands for thousands of years.

A more recent Kent Wildlife Trust update described how bison can strip bark and create standing deadwood that attracts insects and birds. They can also create corridors through dense woodland, allowing more sunlight to reach the forest floor, while their dustbathing sites can become habitats for amphibians and invertebrates.

The Forestry Commission similarly notes that cattle and European bison can reduce bracken through trampling, potentially benefiting light-demanding trees such as oak. Their grazing and browsing can also contribute to greater structural diversity in woodland. However, their impact depends on how many animals are present and how heavily an area is grazed. The Forestry Commission warns that excessive browsing, grazing and trampling can damage soil and vegetation, which is why management and monitoring remain important.

Britain’s bison story goes back thousands of years

Rewilding Britain notes that the European bison, Bison bonasus, is not native to Britain. However, its close relative, the now-extinct forest bison, Bison schoetensacki, lived here during the Pleistocene. European bison are therefore being used as a suitable ecological surrogate in the Wilder Blean project.

Research published by the Royal Society has shown that European bison once occupied large parts of Europe before their range contracted dramatically. The study found that environmental change, human hunting and land-use changes all contributed to their long-term decline and regional extinctions.

The modern European bison itself came remarkably close to disappearing. Rewilding Britain notes that the species was saved from extinction through conservation breeding from the few animals that survived, followed by reintroductions in several European countries.

The first bison were released in 2022

In July 2022, three female European bison were released into woodland in Kent. The Natural History Museum reported that the project was designed to examine how these large herbivores could boost biodiversity and help restore woodland processes. The project quickly produced another remarkable development. Within months, a bison calf was born, becoming the first wild European bison born in Britain for thousands of years, according to the Natural History Museum.

By October 2025, Kent Wildlife Trust reported that the Blean herd had produced its third generation, with five calves born in the ancient woodland since the animals were first released. The organisation said the herd was then roaming across 50 hectares, with plans to expand its accessible woodland to 200 hectares.

A giant animal with a surprisingly small job description

Despite their size, the bison's role in the project is not simply to graze. The Wilder Blean project is designed to test whether allowing natural behaviours such as browsing, grazing, debarking, dustbathing and movement through woodland can produce healthier and more varied habitats with less intensive human intervention. Kent Wildlife Trust says researchers are monitoring soil health, insect and animal abundance, vegetation structure and other natural processes to measure the project's effects.

The project therefore treats the bison less like traditional livestock and more like a living force capable of influencing the entire woodland.