This cache is one of a series placed in collaboration with the
Zoological Society of Manitoba as a part of the Endangered Species
Cache Game. The Cache is in the Assiniboine Park Zoo. There is a
nominal entrance fee. You can download the game sheet at
www.mbgeocaching.ca or obtain one from the
Zoo Shop
NOTE: You do not have to cross any
barriers to easily find this cache
Oh Give Me A Home
The prospect of extinction is a reality for many species of plant
and animal. In the past 300 years, over 300 large and prominent
animals have become extinct due to the pressures put on them and
their habitat by human activity. Some have been able to come back
from that brink because of human care and concern.
The
European Bison
or
Wisent
is now found in the wild in five countries from Poland to Russia,
formerly occurred in mixed and deciduous forests and meadows of
Europe and eastern Asia.
Endangered
, but increasing in numbers on wild reserves and in captivity, this
bovine species may be distinguished from American bison by its
longer legs and more powerful rear legs. Exceptional males of both
species may reach 1,000 kg. Studies have found an activity pattern
of 30% feeding, 60% resting, and 10% moving to new pasture. Its
diet consists of grass, forbs, shrubs and trees. Individuals have
lived 40 years in zoos.
The European bison was once an important game animal to prehistoric
and historic peoples from England to Siberia, but decades
over-hunting and habitat destruction exterminated the species in
the wild – dying out in Poland in 1919. The species was saved
thanks to cooperative breeding programs starting in 1929 using only
five survivors from European zoos. The current wild range includes
Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Poland,
Ukraine and Russia. Over half of the 3,500 animals live in
conservation areas in over 25 herds, and over 250 animals occur in
zoos under a special European Endangered Species Plan, of which our
herd is registered. This herd is one of only several in North
America.