European bison to roam more Kent woodland as new bridges approved

Bridges that will allow European bison that were released into the wild near Canterbury to roam across a wider area of woodland are to be erected.

The bison, which were introduced to the Kent countryside a year ago, currently live in 50 hectares of woodland.

The bridges will allow them to roam 200 hectares, and will also enable visitors to walk around the woods while the animals pass underneath.

Kent Wildlife Trust aim to build four bridges, costing £250,000 each.

The plan has recently been approved by Canterbury City Council.

West Blean and Thornden Woods, where the animals live as the UK's only free-roaming bison herd, has several public footpaths.

The paths prevent the herd from having full access to the woodland, as legislation prevents the bison from sharing the same space as the public.

Stan Smith, project manager at Kent Wildlife Trust, said the trust did not want to reroute public rights of way as "taking away the public's opportunity to see the bison was not an option".

"We could have temporarily closed the paths and encouraged the bison to move from one part of the woodland to another with food but this would be in opposition to our guiding principles of allowing these eco-system engineers to be wild," said Mr Smith.

The bison were originally introduced to help restore the woodland to its natural state as they naturally fell trees by rubbing against them.

This creates space and light and provides deadwood for other plants and animals.

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