At the end of the last ice age, large herds of bison roamed across Europe. But by 1927, the European bison became extinct in the wild, with only about 60 individuals remaining in captivity. Scientists have long debated the exact causes of the grazers’ near extinction, and how much humans were to blame.
A new study combines fossil evidence, ancient DNA, and modeling to disentangle the threats that forced the European bison’s population decline. Rapid environmental change and hunting by humans were the main drivers, according to the study, published today in the journal Proceedings of the…
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News Source: www.sciencedaily.com