Visiting Bialowieza National Park in Poland
Bialowieza
National Park is situated some 200 km (120 miles) east of Warsaw, on the
border with Belarus, which also has protected areas. It is a UNESCO
Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site and one of the
last virgin forests left in Europe, a remnant of the primeval forest that
once covered much of the European plain, and was once a favorite hunting
spot for the kings of Poland, and the site of the former residence of
Tsar Nicholas I, in the Palace Park.
The ancient
forest's huge trees and pockets of dense vegetation provide shelter for a
wealth of biodiversity. It is home to some 11,000 species of flora and
fauna rarely seen elsewhere in Europe, including 120 species of breeding
birds, 7 species of reptiles, 11 species of amphibians and 8,500 species
of insects.
This is the
last habitat of the European Bison (in Polish, ubr). The national
park is also home to semi-wild konik ponies, which are being bred in an
effort to bring back from extinction the tarpan, a breed of horse popular
all over Europe in the Middle Ages, and zubrons, a cross between bison
and cows.
Among the 54
species of mammals living here are wolves, red deer, roe deer, lynx,
beaver, elk, and wild boar. The European Bison Reserve enables you to see
some of these animals within the confines of a small park, or you can
tour around the Strict Nature Reserve, really the main attraction here,
with a licensed guide, either on foot or by horse-drawn cart. Without a
licensed guide, the park is off limits. This is a
real paradise for nature lovers.
