Wisent
Bison bonasus
🦬🇪🇺
Chordata
Mammalia
Artiodactyla
Pecora
Bovidae
Bison
Bison bonasus
The European Woodlands Bison, Bison bonasus, also known as the European bison or wisent, is Europe’s heaviest surviving land mammal. Once widespread from the British Isles to Siberia, its range contracted severely due to overhunting and deforestation. Early humans in Europe hunted it for meat, hides, and bones, and the species even appears in Paleolithic cave art.
Description
The European bison is slightly taller and longer-legged than the American bison (Bison bison), with a less pronounced shoulder hump and longer tail. Males can stand 1.8–2.1 meters at the shoulder and reach 2.7–3.1 meters in body length. They are adapted to forest habitats, grazing and browsing on grasses, bark, leaves, and shoots.
Quick Facts
Max Mass
Shoulder Height
Standing Height
Length
Diet
Trophic Level
920
1.8
2.7
3
kg
m
m
m
Mixed Feeder
Herbivores – Grazers
Hunt History
Bison bonasus was a major prey species for Upper Paleolithic hunters in Ice Age Europe, hunted with spears, atlatls, and cooperative drives. Later, during the Neolithic and medieval eras, European peoples continued to hunt wisent, often as a symbol of power or prestige. By the Middle Ages, hunting was restricted to royalty and nobility, further reducing their numbers.
Archaeological Evidence of Early Predation:
Altamira Cave (Spain) — Famous Paleolithic cave art (~36,000 years ago) depicts wisent in hunting scenes.
Lascaux Cave (France) — Stunning depictions of Bison bonasus (~17,000 years ago) show humans’ reliance on this species for subsistence and spiritual symbolism.
Kostenki Sites (Russia, ~25,000 years ago) — Bison remains found alongside stone tools, indicating butchering and consumption by early hunter-gatherers.
Time & Range
Extinction Status
Extant
Extinction Date
Temporal Range
Region
0
BP
Late Pleistocene
Europe
Wiki Link
Fat Analysis
Fatness Profile:
Medium
Fat %
6
Est. Renderable Fat
30
kg
Targeted Organs
Hump/backfat, marrow, mesenteric fat
Adipose Depots
Hump/backfat, mesenteric, perirenal; marrow
Preferred Cuts
Hump/backfat & marrow
Hunt Difficulty (x/5)
4