SLU and the Forest Society want to investigate the possibility of letting bison, which belong to the bison family, run freely in Swedish forests.
But Swedish cowboy David Bergendahl, who has extensive experience with the animal, thinks they should reconsider.
– It is life-threatening for us humans, he says.
The forestry association plans together with the Swedish University of Agriculture (SLU) to investigate the possibility of placing bison, which belongs to the bison family, in a forest area north of Västerås.
The reason is that the species are large herbivores, and could help contribute to biological diversity, writes the foundation in a press release.
Warns of the animal
David Bergendahl has extensive experience with bison. With a background as a cowboy on the Canadian ranches, he has been in close contact with the huge animal – and now wants to warn of the consequences, something the magazine Hunting and hunters have reported on.
– They run through fences, over logs and stones, through farms and people, says David Bergendahl to TV4 Nyheterna.
“Breaks everything” and “panics easily”
Bison are Europe’s largest wild terrestrial mammals with a weight of up to 800 kilos. They once lived freely in Sweden, but are now only found in zoos.
David describes the animal as erratic, “breaks everything”, “panicks easily” and afraid to run away.
– What would it look like if there was a berry picker out there and the animal was forced to run. They have bad eyesight so they can just run right over her.
During his time in Canada, David bounced around between different crews. He then trained as an equestrian, and sometimes competed in “reining”, which can be described as fast-paced dressage, and “cutting”, which means that you use your horse to separate a cow from the rest of the herd.
– We use bison to train and see how tough the horse is. You have to be at your best and hope you’re on a good horse, because if they start arguing – you’ll break, he says.
Planning for wild bison
If the preliminary study yields good results, the next step for SLU and the Forest Society will be to apply to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency for permission to bring bison into Sweden.
– It will be completely crazy. It is life-threatening for us humans. Take regular cows, or maybe sheep. But a bison – that’s not good, says David Bergendahl.