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Białowieża National Park- European Bison
Justiceiro
Registered Users Posts: 1,177 Major grins
Just got back from 5 days in the Bialowieza National Park on the Polish-Belarussian border. The place has fantastic potential, but the weather was absolutely dreadful for photography. Usually it is about 20 below with clear skies and crisp air, and the animals of the park are forced to forage more widely for food. This week was just above freezing, so the whole place was shrouded in fog.
Typical weather for the week
Also, our plans to cross over into the Belarus side of the park were foiled by a current diplomatic incident between Poland, Germany, and Belarus. The border wasn't exactly closed, but visas weren't forthcoming.
Bialowieza is one of the only remaining bits of the European primeval forest that used to stretch from the Urals to northern France. The current park covers about 40 square miles.
Unlike parks in the United States it is not possible to enter the strict reserve without a guide. Irritating, but understandable, as all it would take would be one idiot dropping a cigarette in hot weather to completely eliminate this unique biosphere, and the many species it hosts, such as the Wisent, or European Bison, of which about 3000 are left in the world. 400 or so are free ranging on the Polish side of the border, with another 600 on the Belarus side.
The forest's strict reserve is left alone as much as possible. As our guide put it "If a tree falls, it stays there. If a bison dies, it stays there. And if a tourist dies... they stay there." I think he was joking about the tourists.
Inside the Strict Reserve
Konik, wild forest horses that resemble the extinct Tarpan
Due to the massive size of some of the trees, their age (many in the 400 year range) and the dense overhead canopy, the primeval forest isn't very densely grown at ground level.
Bialowieza is also a very wet forest, with a number of watercourses and marshy areas. During the summer the park supports over 250 species of birds, and within the first two hours I saw numerous examples of two species of woodpeckers. (Couldn't manage to nail a photo, although you hear them more or less constantly).
The only evidence we managed to obtain of the Bison the first day were footprints.
Later in the week we got luckier. I managed to see the back end of a Zubr (Bison) as it crossed the road in front of us, as well as a number of deer.
A mile or so later we came across a fox gnawing on some sort of object, said Fox dashing off into the undergrowth as soon as we came in view.
The object was a deer leg, which was still warm to the touch. Our guide stated that it must have been killed by wolves in the last 30 minutes or so, then scavenged by foxes. Wolves, however, are extremely hard to find. Our guide, a native of Bialowieza village, has been going into the park for more than thirty years, and has encountered them at close range only nine times.
That night, we headed out to an old freight rail station that has been converted into a restaurant, called Restauracja Carska. Bialowieza was once the private hunting reserve of the Polsh kings from the 15th century onwards, and the of the Tsars. This is one of the reasons why the primeval forest was not disturbed.
The food was excellent standard Polish and Russian fare.
The village itself hosts several charming inns, a Cerkev (orthodox church), a catholic church, and one graveyard where both Orthodox and Catholic Poles are buried together. Our guide was quite proud of this, as it is highly unusual in the Eastern Wall area of Poland.
The Germans hung 90 villagers in the trees in front of the Cerkev during the German occupation, although they treated the actual forest relatively well. During the first world war they cut down about a third of it, and killed 600 of the Bison for meat.
monument to executed villagers
The only other serious damage suffered was the fact that the giant palace of the Tsar was burned by Hungarian troops, on German orders, before the "liberation" of the area by the Red Army. Most villagers actually consider this fortunate, as had the palace survived then Stalin would likely have taken the whole forest for the Soviet Union as a personal dacha, rather than just taking half. (Before the war, Poland stretched hundreds of kilometers eastward into what is now Belarus and Ukraine).
Animals
Jelen
Sleeping Boar Piglets
The Bison themselves remained elusive however, until we were driving back to Warsaw. On the edge of the park, some of the Zubr had emerged from the forest to gnaw on grass stalks sticking up from the snow. We disembarked, and I managed to get a few photos. Unfortunately, as our guide was not with us, I didn't know how safe the distance was, so I hung back, and the light was poor. In short, the photos kind of suck. Nevertheless, they are magnificent animals.
A group of German semi-professional photogs was also staying at our hotel, and said they had gotten special permission to go with the "Forest Guards" (kind fo like rangers) to the morning feeding of the Bison (hay is put out several times a week in the winter, as the forest isn't really large enough to support the herd in the winter). They saw 160 of them. Which is amazing, even more so when you consider that's about 3% of the total European Bison left on earth. I was quite jealous.
Typical weather for the week
Also, our plans to cross over into the Belarus side of the park were foiled by a current diplomatic incident between Poland, Germany, and Belarus. The border wasn't exactly closed, but visas weren't forthcoming.
Bialowieza is one of the only remaining bits of the European primeval forest that used to stretch from the Urals to northern France. The current park covers about 40 square miles.
Unlike parks in the United States it is not possible to enter the strict reserve without a guide. Irritating, but understandable, as all it would take would be one idiot dropping a cigarette in hot weather to completely eliminate this unique biosphere, and the many species it hosts, such as the Wisent, or European Bison, of which about 3000 are left in the world. 400 or so are free ranging on the Polish side of the border, with another 600 on the Belarus side.
The forest's strict reserve is left alone as much as possible. As our guide put it "If a tree falls, it stays there. If a bison dies, it stays there. And if a tourist dies... they stay there." I think he was joking about the tourists.
Inside the Strict Reserve
Konik, wild forest horses that resemble the extinct Tarpan
Due to the massive size of some of the trees, their age (many in the 400 year range) and the dense overhead canopy, the primeval forest isn't very densely grown at ground level.
Bialowieza is also a very wet forest, with a number of watercourses and marshy areas. During the summer the park supports over 250 species of birds, and within the first two hours I saw numerous examples of two species of woodpeckers. (Couldn't manage to nail a photo, although you hear them more or less constantly).
The only evidence we managed to obtain of the Bison the first day were footprints.
Later in the week we got luckier. I managed to see the back end of a Zubr (Bison) as it crossed the road in front of us, as well as a number of deer.
A mile or so later we came across a fox gnawing on some sort of object, said Fox dashing off into the undergrowth as soon as we came in view.
The object was a deer leg, which was still warm to the touch. Our guide stated that it must have been killed by wolves in the last 30 minutes or so, then scavenged by foxes. Wolves, however, are extremely hard to find. Our guide, a native of Bialowieza village, has been going into the park for more than thirty years, and has encountered them at close range only nine times.
That night, we headed out to an old freight rail station that has been converted into a restaurant, called Restauracja Carska. Bialowieza was once the private hunting reserve of the Polsh kings from the 15th century onwards, and the of the Tsars. This is one of the reasons why the primeval forest was not disturbed.
The food was excellent standard Polish and Russian fare.
The village itself hosts several charming inns, a Cerkev (orthodox church), a catholic church, and one graveyard where both Orthodox and Catholic Poles are buried together. Our guide was quite proud of this, as it is highly unusual in the Eastern Wall area of Poland.
The Germans hung 90 villagers in the trees in front of the Cerkev during the German occupation, although they treated the actual forest relatively well. During the first world war they cut down about a third of it, and killed 600 of the Bison for meat.
monument to executed villagers
The only other serious damage suffered was the fact that the giant palace of the Tsar was burned by Hungarian troops, on German orders, before the "liberation" of the area by the Red Army. Most villagers actually consider this fortunate, as had the palace survived then Stalin would likely have taken the whole forest for the Soviet Union as a personal dacha, rather than just taking half. (Before the war, Poland stretched hundreds of kilometers eastward into what is now Belarus and Ukraine).
Animals
Jelen
Sleeping Boar Piglets
The Bison themselves remained elusive however, until we were driving back to Warsaw. On the edge of the park, some of the Zubr had emerged from the forest to gnaw on grass stalks sticking up from the snow. We disembarked, and I managed to get a few photos. Unfortunately, as our guide was not with us, I didn't know how safe the distance was, so I hung back, and the light was poor. In short, the photos kind of suck. Nevertheless, they are magnificent animals.
A group of German semi-professional photogs was also staying at our hotel, and said they had gotten special permission to go with the "Forest Guards" (kind fo like rangers) to the morning feeding of the Bison (hay is put out several times a week in the winter, as the forest isn't really large enough to support the herd in the winter). They saw 160 of them. Which is amazing, even more so when you consider that's about 3% of the total European Bison left on earth. I was quite jealous.
Cave ab homine unius libri
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Comments
Photos that don't suck / 365 / Film & Lomography
An offhand comment in a history book I read a few years ago which mentioned the primeval forest that hairy, uncouth, warlike Germans would swarm out of and assualt the Romans. It mentioned that a bit of it still existed in Poland, so I checked it out on Wikipedia. Then I was like "Bison, in Europe?" I was even more interested when I discovered that they weren't transplanted Buffalo, but a different species. Also, the forest looked all evil and creepy in the photos, as it did in real life. Despite the fact that it is only 40 square miles, you can get lost in it.
http://www.bisoneurope.com/
Not to mention a wolf park nearby too (if I remember rightly... yes just checked google maps - around 30mins apart)
http://www.loupsdugevaudan.com/
thanks for the photos - I love seeing the big creatures
Jase // www.stonesque.com
Even on the Polish side, you must pre-arrange a guide to take you in at all times? Is it much busier in the spring and fall? How difficult is it to arrange a private excursion with the forest guards? In the absence of diplomatic snafus, is it difficult for a US citizen to get entrance into Belarus through the Poland/Belarus border? (The research I have been doing doesn't make it seem much more complicated than it would be for Ukraine, which is not to say simple, but...)
Been thinking about going through Lithuania, but am still researching the options.
Photos that don't suck / 365 / Film & Lomography
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003085685580
Sorry Schmoo, I totally missed your question, but am thinking about going back to the park, and came across it just now. BTW, if you want to visit, I would love to accompany you.
You don't really have to pre-arrange a guide, at least not in the winter. I went to the office by the bridge, and asked if I could have an English speaking guide the next day. No problem- it was completely painless. Also, it wasn't expensive (30 euros or so for 4 hours, IIRC.)
Getting into the Belarussian side will cost you $100 for a visa, or so, but isn't usually difficult, if there haven't been recent criticisms by the West of Belarus, which raises their hackles.
At the moment, I am considering whether to go again in the winter, or in the fall. Let me know if you are planning to go.
As long as you don't plan on leaving the continent anytime in the next several months, I'll hit you up on your offer. I would like nothing more than to explore and catch up.
Thanks for the info! The challenge of Americans getting visas to certain countries only adds to the exquisite flavor.
Photos that don't suck / 365 / Film & Lomography
Had no idea there were bison in Europe.
Thank you.