Caucasian Wisent and the Carpathian Wisent (Bison bonuses caucasicus) (Bison bonuses hungarorum)

Once subspecies of the European Bison, a species whose continued existence is shaky at best, the Caucasian Wisent once inhabited the Caucasus Mountains while the Carpathian Wisent inhabited the Carpathian Mountains, Transylvania, and Moldavia. The former went extinct in 1927, when the last three were killed. The latter went extinct about hundred years earlier in 1852, with the last individual shot in Maramures.

These animals are the heaviest wild land animal in all of Europe, weighing in at 400 to 920 kg (880 to 2,030 lb) in males. Though they once lived throughout the lowlands of Europe, from the eastern portions of Russian into Sweden and England, human population growth has stressed their habitats and their numbers. They’ve historically been shot for food and to make their horns into drinking horns. Even the remaining European Bison was made extinct in the wild in 1921, with the last individual kill in the Białowieża Forest of Poland-Belarus.

All those that remain are either genetically impure, due to a breeding programme with American Bison, or have only one of only two remaining Y chromosomes, which will affect the health of future bison generations. The current worldwide population stands at 4,663, all descendent from 12 ancestors of lowland European Bison bulls.

Extinction Date(s): 1927 and 1852