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The European bison has been gradually reintroduce across Europe over the past few decennium after their figure collapse from over - hunting and home ground going . However , they ’ve of late had a mysterious and gruesome setback at one breeding program in Spain .
The beheaded consistency of a European bison was discovered at the secret Valdeserillas reserve in the eastern part of Valencia , while three others have been reported missing , AFPreports .
conservationist at the reserve trust the male bison , named Sauron , wasdecapitated with an ax and his capitulum sell or proceed as a prize . Most of the eight - strong ruck of European bison in the stockpile were sick last month , leading the staff to believe they had been poison .
“ He was called Sauron after the Lord of the Rings type because he was the biggest and the most powerful , ” Rodolfo Navarro , a spokesman for the reticence , toldthe Guardian . “He was a beautiful animal that weighed nearly 800 kilo [ 1,764 pounds ] . He was sort of the symbol of the reserve . ”
Navarro contribute that cutis and stemma samples from Sauron have been taken to try and identify the generator of the toxicant and hopefully trace the culprit .
The European bison is the largest mammal find in Europe . It once lived in abundant numbers around the continent and was evendepicted inthe famous Lascaux Paleolithic cave house painting in southwestern France , date stamp from around 17,000 BCE .
But the species succumbed to widespread hunting and expiration of home ground duringthe nineteenth century . They were considered nonextant in the state of nature in the years follow World War One . After the reintroduction of captive European bison , their numbers have bit by bit increased , according to theIUCN Red List .
There was a abbreviated free fall in the universe during the 1990s , but thanks to intensive preservation management , their numbers are back to their firm wage increase . TheWWFestimates that the planetary population of European bison is now around 5,553 . The species , however , is still considered vulnerable .
