Bison injures ranger in Swiss project enclosure
A bison bull charged and injured a ranger in the enclosure at Welschenrohr in Solothurn on Monday afternoon. Rega airlifted the injured man to hospital.
The experienced ranger wanted to scare the bison bull away and approached the animal to within one or two metres, the Wisent im Thal association reported on Tuesday.
In doing so, the ranger fell short of the minimum distance stipulated in the code of conduct. The bull did not back away and felt cornered. While attempting to free itself from the situation, the bison bull knocked the ranger over.
The association stated in its press release that bison do not normally react aggressively towards humans. In this incident, it was not a deliberate attack, but rather a misjudgement on the part of the ranger and a subsequent defensive reaction by the cornered animal, it said.
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Using the test herd, those responsible have been investigating since 2022 – and will continue to do so until 2027 – whether the European bison, which was eradicated from Switzerland in the Middle Ages, can once again be sustainably reintroduced as a wild animal in the Jura.
The fenced-off test site on the Sollmatt, covering around 100 hectares, belongs to the municipality of Solothurn and to the ranger involved in the accident himself. Despite the trial, agricultural and forestry activities are continuing, and the public can still access the site without restriction, it was stated.
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