Watch: Cork-raised bison 'doing amazingly well' after release into wild in UK
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Two bison born in Ireland which became part of Britain’s only wild herd have already settled in well to their new home a week after being released.
The European bison from Fota Wildlife Park in Cork were released into West Blean and Thornden Woods, Kent.
The pair, along with a female from Scotland, will help combat the climate change crisis.
The historic event marked the first time in thousands of years that wild bison have roamed Britain's wilderness.
Thanks to £1.25m (€1.5m) in funding from the annual Dream Fund, the project was able to go ahead. It is hoped the animals will revitalise the woodland through their natural behaviours, such as grazing, eating bark and felling trees, which will open natural canopies in the forest and help to revive struggling native wildlife.
It appears that just a week from their arrival, some of these processes have already begun to take place.
Bison ranger Tom Gibbs said the animals "are doing amazingly well".
He said: “They are finding their own food with ease; we have seen them eating birch, oak, sweet chestnut, brambles, bracken and even a little bit of heather.
"They have even begun to debark the conifer trees, which is fantastic as a key focus of the project is the bison controlling the non-native trees within the woodland.
“Already we are seeing tracks starting to form and thick vegetation opening up.
"We are coming across the wide corridors they have made and can see when they have trampled dense areas which has allowed more light to reach the woodland floor.”
A video recently released from the Kent Wildlife Trust highlights the impact the bison have already made in the area, with trails present from where they have explored their surroundings and signs that they have begun to use trees in the woodland as rubbing posts.
Mr Gibbs continued: “They are doing well physically too.
"We have been checking their dung, as this is an indicator of health and it shows they are getting enough fibre and their diet is good.
“They have a great appetite and have easily sourced what is available to them in the reserve.
"We could not have asked for better individuals, they are everything we hoped for and have settled in so well.”
The trust hopes its efforts will help to revolutionise methods used to restore British landscapes by relying more on natural engineers instead of human.