England released four bison into a dead forest, and what the animals did with bark and hooves stunned researchers. The rewilding project dropped the giants into woodland that had lost nearly all its trees, leaving an empty, silent landscape.
In July 2022, England released four European bison into West Blean and Thornden Woods near Canterbury, marking the first time wild bison had roamed Britain in 6,000 years. A bull joined the three females a few months later, but the females had already begun altering the landscape on their own. Within hours, the matriarch pushed through a thicket of rhododendron and stripped bark from a willow tree…