Zubra as a brand will be considered at the international conference in the national park “Belovezhskaya Pushcha”

On September 25-26, an international scientific and practical conference will be held in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park on the role of the bison as a biological species and as a brand of the territory. This was reported to journalists and bloggers during a press conference by Deputy Director General of the National Park “Belovezhskaya Pushcha” Yuri Roy, writes BelTA.

The international scientific and practical conference “Zubr 2026: from the revival of the species to the brand of the territory” will be part of the Zubr Fest festival, which will be held on September 25-26 in the national park. It will be held at the International Wildlife Research Center. There will be our Belarusian colleagues, participants from Russia, in particular from Bashkortostan, where we took bison. It is assumed that there will be colleagues who want to restore the bison population in Georgia, said Yuri Roy.

The conference program includes a plenary session and four sections. They will be devoted not only to the biology of the bison, the history of the formation of the population in the Bialowieza Forest and its conservation, but also to the modern perception of the bison as a symbol of the region and the country. You know perfectly well that the image of the bison is proudly on the hoods of cars, on the labels of Belarusian products. Therefore, this conference is the starting stage, which will annually allow to gather people involved in the bison and its image in industry, branding, advertising, said the Deputy General Director.

The organizers plan to expand the theme of the conference, including issues of folklore and reflection of the image of the bison in literature.

“In most territories, bison populations are representative of the Belovezhsk-Caucasian line. On the territory of the national park, on the territory of Poland, on the territory of Lithuania - the population of the Belovezhskaya line. Somewhere there is a Caucasian impurity, but it is very insignificant. Therefore, we would like to consider the issue of the authenticity of the bison, which lives in the territory of the Belovezhskaya Forest, since it is never too late to mix the populations, said Yuri Roy.

The deputy general director noted that interest in Bialowiega bison is growing. The Belovezhsk-Caucasian line in Russia is represented in many regions and is actively expanding. A lot of people buy. In particular, Bashkortostan has already bought 24 bison from us – they are restoring the population of the Belovezhskaya line. In winter, we plan to supply another 9 bison to the Republic of Bashkortostan, to the Muradymov Gorge, where a reserve was created separately for our bison, he said.

Yuri Roy stressed that Bialowiezh bison perfectly adapt to new conditions. “It’s amazing that our bison in the continental climate feel great, just great.” The liberated ecological niche allows them to have a wide range of feeds. They were successful, although there were doubts. But our bison adapts very well. This is another indicator that bison will not have borders on the Eurasian continent. I think that this species will successfully settle, and we will do everything possible for this, he said. A huge figure of a bison and a 3D projection about the history of the Bialowieza Forest: what else are the organizers of the “Zubr-Fest” preparing