Introduction - by brute force

A herd of the country's celebrated bison has been transported from the primeval forest of Białowieża to Haut Thorenc in the French Alps.

Poland's ancient forest lies in the border area between Poland and Belarus and has been home to the European bison for thousands of years.

According to Radio Polonia, it took 40 hours to drive the 13 bison across Germany to their new home on 700 hectares of Alpine pastures and low-lying woodlands.

The Białowieża Primeval Forest in Poland is the last natural lowland forest of the Old Continent. Numbers of the European bison fell so low during the last century that it was almost on the point of extinction. The species proved very hard to breed but a team of Polish scientists have now saved the giant beast.

The rescue of the species has been so successful that there are now more than 300 bison living in Białowieza Forest. Bison expert Dr Wanda Olech-Piasecka, from the Institute of Biological Foundation of Animal Breeding, says the French development will further boost breeding. "The animal has only been saved thanks to the hard work of Białowieża Forest researchers over many decades," said Olech-Piasecka.

"Fresh blood is needed to preserve the species, so hopefully, the herd will adapt well to its new environment and breed in the new habitat without difficulties," she added. (Radio Polonia)