Eight European bison calves born in Shahdag in 2026
According to WWF Azerbaijan, eight bison calves were born in Shahdag National Park this year. Two of them are the offspring of bison already born in Azerbaijan.
At a glance
- Published
- 18 October 2026
- Topic
- Mammals
On 7 August 2026, AzerNews published a report from WWF Azerbaijan: eight European bison calves were born in Shahdag National Park this year. Bison had not lived wild in the Caucasus since 1927. Their Caucasian subspecies once lived in the forests of Abkhazia and Samegrelo too.
What was born in Shahdag?
According to WWF Azerbaijan, eight European bison (Bison bonasus) calves were born in Shahdag National Park in 2026. The parents of two of them were themselves born in Azerbaijan in 2022. This means that animals born on site are now breeding too. AzerNews published the report on 7 August.
The programme centre is in the park’s Ismayilli section. A breeding complex works on a 305-hectare area there, where the animals are prepared for release into the wild. WWF Azerbaijan says that since May 2019, 12 bison have been brought in for the programme from zoos in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.
How many bison live in the park now?
Different sources give figures from different dates, so they cannot be added together. According to IUCN in November 2024, the centre was built in 2017, the first 12 bison arrived in 2019, and the first 20 animals were released into the wild in 2020. At that time 66 bison lived in Shahdag, and some wore GPS collars. The goal is at least 100 adult animals by 2028.
According to a UNEP story of 2 June 2026, there are about 90 bison in the park, including several pregnant females. More than 25 calves have been born in the park since the release. The goal for the next 25 years is a herd of 500, the minimum for a population that can sustain itself.
Who are the Shahdag bison?
They are not pure Caucasian bison. According to UNEP, European zoos crossed lowland bison with the last Caucasian male, and animals from this cross-bred line were brought to Shahdag. The partners are WWF, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, the organisation IDEA, Tierpark Berlin and the breeding programme of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA). Rewilding Europe co-financed the project.
Elshad Askerov, head of WWF Azerbaijan, calls the bison an “ecosystem engineer”. He says bison spread seeds in their dung and change the composition of the soil. By grazing and moving, they open up dense undergrowth, so grasslands recover and smaller herbivores return.
Bison once lived in Georgia too
According to the Georgian Encyclopedia, the Caucasian bison ranged in Georgia from the forests of Abkhazia and Samegrelo to the headwaters of the Terek. The last Caucasian bison was killed in the Bzyb valley in 1927. One male calf that survived in a reserve was crossed with a Białowieża bison cow, which produced the Caucasian–Białowieża line.
These sources mention no plan to bring bison back to Georgia. UNEP writes that one of Azerbaijan’s neighbours has shown interest in repeating the project, but it does not name the country. Askerov hopes that, in time, the different herds of the Caucasus will meet and become one large population. Georgia’s mammals are on the mammals hub, and other restoration stories are in News.
