Polish bison also feels the consequences of a hybrid attack on Belarus / Article

Both Poles and Belarusians recognize bison as a protected symbol and close to their nation, but now bison also suffer from the consequences of the hybrid attack on Belarus, as Poles have been forced to fence more and more fences around the border.

Latvian Television has repeatedly seen and filmed how these largest terrestrial mammals in Europe roam here and travel across the countryside to the Białowieża Gorge, or primary forest. In September, Poland installed a two-and-a-half-meter-high wire fence along the border.

Last week, Gazeta Wyborcza reported that 20 bison were trapped between Polish and Belarusian fences.

“Unfortunately, what I expected and what many experts warned about has happened: pockets were created between the fences, which became a death trap for animals,” says Adam Vajrak, an environmental journalist.

One dead bison was seen in the published photo. Information about others was not confirmed by the Polish authorities.

“We do not have any information about the large number of bison in the area. It is only from Belarus. We have only seen one sick bison. It is also possible that this one can be seen in the photo taken by the Belarusian authorities,” explains the Polish Border Guard. Katažina Zhdanovich.

Poland’s Deputy Minister of Climate and Environment Malgoyat Golynski says nature protection services and border guards work closely together and react when animals find themselves in dangerous situations.

However, in her published photo, researchers drew another dead bison.

Polish officials deny the fence could damage the bison. However, both dead bison died right next to the fence.

Describing the migration of bison, Professor Rafal Kovalchik of the Polish Academy of Sciences gave a card to the newspaper Wyborcza. The white dots in it do not indicate individual bison, but the places where the location of the bison was once recorded between 2005 and 2012. The map is old, but according to the researcher, not much has changed in the behavior of bison. It is only now that there are fences on both the red and blue lines, between which there are such “pockets” or enclaves, and when entering there, the bison may not be in the usual winter feeding places.

The border guard promises that unless the problem is confirmed, the bison will not be left unhappy.

“If we see a large group of bison, and they want to go, then, of course, we will let them go, we will give a chance to get through,” promises Katažina Ždanoviča.

CONTEXT:

In the summer of 2021 the number of migrants increased significantly, which is trying to enter the territory of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland illegally from Belarus. Most migrants are arrived from Iraq.

Officials from the Baltic states and Poland pointed out that the Belarusian authorities deliberately do not obstruct the crossing of the borderto punish these countries for supporting the Belarusian opposition and sanctions against Alexander Lukashenko’s regime.

The European Union will do so described as the deployment of hybrid warfare and promises to help strengthen the EU’s external border.

–