EUROPEAN BISONS.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 9670, 8 March 1897, Page 6

EUROPEAN BISONS.

The Fatal Results of Inbreeding. . Once common over a considerable part of Europe, the bison has gradually been killed off, till only a few protected herds still exist, and the history of such a one in Lithuania has lately been given by Mr Buchner. Since 1832 a yearly census has been taken in the early winter." In that year 770 were recorded. In 1857 the number had increased to 1898, while in 1889 the number was only 380. Since then; there has been a slight increase. The author carefully considers the reasons for thi* great decrease. Hunting, poaching, the taking of live specimens for zoological gardens, ravages of beasts of prey and of various diseases, and the effects of shortage of food supply are all shown to be insufficient to give a complete explanation of the great lessening of their numbers, so that the true reason must be sought in the animals themselves. It has long been known that the bison cows calve • only once in three years, and there seems every reason to believe that this slow rate of increase is an abnormal one, and will ultimately bring about the extinction of the herd. Again, the animals are far from healthy, and fatty degeneration of various organs and abnormalities in the skeleton are common, while, through lack of milk, many of the cows are unable to rear their calves. These

conditions are believed to be due to excessive in-breeding. The fate of the herd seems certain in spite of all the care that can be lavished on it. The author considers that in-breeding is the cause of the extinction of moet of the. large mammals, when for any reason they have been broken up into isolated colonies. If Buchner's conclusion be correct says Science, w* may look for the speedy extinction of the American bison, and the danger of any considerable reduction in the size of the Pribilof Island seal colonies, with the expectation that they will regain their .former site under subsequent strict protection, becomes folly apparent.