Today the largest wild mammal in the Lower Oder Valley is the red deer (Cervus elaphus). But it wasn’t that long ago that wild horses and cattle were also at home in Central Europe. Until the Ice Age even wild ones lived here Water buffalo (Bubalus arnee), still in the Middle Ages Bison (Bison bonasus) and the last Aurochs (Bos primigenius), the famous wild Ur, was only exterminated in the 17th century. But they belong in an unspoilt landscape. They will not return by themselves like the wolf (Canis lupus) or the golden jackal (Canis aureus), who have already found their way back to the lower Oder Valley on their four paws. We have to help the large ungulates.
In the polder near Stolzenhagen and Lunow, around 100 backbred aurochs, the so-called Heck cattle, live on three large, wild pastures, together with primitive horses like the one Exmoor pony or that Konik, which is still very similar to the western wild horse, the tarpan. Only the eastern wild horse, the so-called Przewalski horse (Equus ferus przewalskii), survived.
In Criewen near the national park car park next to the chicken farm, a herd of bison is developing, surrounded by national park forests. The animals come from the Berlin Zoo and Tierpark and are a sign of the good coöperation between the Berlin zoos and nature conservation in the Lower Oder Valley. The first young animals were born on the wild bison pasture. With bison keeping, we combine aspects of species protection, biotope maintenance, ecological agriculture, but also tourism promotion.
In the far north, in the Friedrichsthaler Polder, there are around 100 water buffalos. They were originally domesticated in Asia, but have been a domestic animal in the Balkans as well as in Italy since the 5th century. They are excellently adapted to the damp meadows.
While the aurochs and horses are kept by Öko Agrar GmbH, the bison and water buffalo are the responsibility of established farmers from the region.
