The Foundation Conservation Carpathia (FCC) team head into the woods in search of some of the more than 150 bison that live in free-ranging herds in Romania

FCC ranger Robert Bulgaru waves an antenna in an attempt to get a radio signal to locate the bison, some of which are wearing tracking collars

A tracking receiver is used but with poor reception, no signal can be found

The team spots a bison for the first time. The FCC has released 37 bison in two locations since May 2020. Five calves have been born in the wild, with three surviving

Adrian Aldea, the FCC’s biologist and wildlife manager who is leading the team, inspects some fur found on the trail

Aldea searches for more bison. He explains why they are good for biodiversity. ‘The meadows will be maintained by grazing bison and forests will acquire a better natural structure, at the same time benefitting the other species’

The FCC’s project in the Făgăraș mountains is one of three working to reintroduce bison in Romania’s Carpathians, including the WWF and Rewilding Europe in the south-west, and the state forestry authority RNP Romsilva with the Vânători-Neamț natural park in the north-east

A young bison grazing the hillside. Since the first bison were reintroduced to Europe in Poland’s Białowieża forest in 1954, many other European countries have followed, with wild herds now established in Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Belarus, Lithuania – and Romania

Aldea and Bulgaru input their observations into an app they use to track the bisons’ health and behaviour

As they return from seeing the bison, the team pass a brown bear with her cubs

Before the bison are released into the wild, they are quarantined in an enclosure to ensure they have no diseases

Though rescued from extinction, and with populations arguably in their rudest health for centuries, the bison is still classed as ‘near threatened’ on the IUCN red list

The rangers push a boulder out of the way to get to the enclosure

A footbridge en route to the bison enclosure

The enclosure is a Jurassic Park-like palisade of strong timber and electric fences

About half of the Carpathian mountains are in Romania. Habitat fragmentation is relatively low, which allows the bison to find places to feed, rest and migrate over long distances

A large male bison grazes near a river

The FCC is seeking to rewild huge swathes of land in the Făgăraș mountains, the highest range of the southern Carpathians. Aldea says: ‘The reintroduction of bison is not only a matter of repairing past environmental mistakes or a case of modern biodiversity conservation, but it is also an excellent example of how nature conservation can help local communities thrive by developing ecotourism programmes’