European Bison Rut — Białowieża Forest Bull

Description

The European bison — extinct in the wild until reintroduction from captive stock in 1952 — now has a viable wild population centred on Białowieża National Park, the last lowland primeval forest in Europe. The bison rut in September produces behaviour not commonly documented: the flehmen response, where the bull curls its upper lip after investigating a female’s scent or a scent mark, exposing the vomeronasal organ to enhance chemical analysis of reproductive status signals. This image captures the full flehmen response in a rutting bull at a known scent mark site in the Białowieża forest — the upper lip curled back to expose the gum line and the vomeronasal organ opening, the bull’s eyes half-closed in the characteristic expression of intense olfactory concentration. The ancient oak and hornbeam forest that has never been clear-felled provides the background that distinguishes Białowieża’s visual character.