How big does a European bison get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown European bison (Bison bonasus) reaches an average size of 2.9 meter (9′ 7″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). During their lifetime of about 27 years, they grow from 23.38 kg (51.54 lbs) to 674.44 kg (1486.88 lbs). Talking about reproduction, European bisons have 1 babies about 1 times per year. The European bison (genus: Bison) is a member of the family Bovidae.
As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.
The European bison (Bison bonasus), also known as the wisent ( or ), the zubr (), or the European wood bison, is a Eurasian species of bison. It is one of two extant species of bison, alongside the American bison. Three subspecies existed in the recent past, but only one, the nominate subspecies (B. b. bonasus) survives today. Analysis of mitochondrial genomes and nuclear DNA revealed that the wisent is theoretically the result of hybridisation between the extinct steppe bison (Bison priscus) and the ancestors of the aurochs (Bos primigenius) since their genetic material contains up to 10% auroch DNA sequences; the possible hybrid is referred to informally as the Higgs bison, a play-on-words in reference to the Higgs boson. Alternatively, the Pleistocene woodland bison has been suggested as the ancestor to the species.European bison were hunted to extinction in the wild in the early 20th century, with the last wild animals of the B. b. bonasus subspecies being shot in the Białowieża Forest (on the Belarus-Poland border) in 1921, and the last of B. b. caucasus in the northwestern Caucasus in 1927. B. b. hungarorum was hunted to extinction in the mid-1800s. The Białowieża or lowland European bison was kept alive in captivity, and has since been reintroduced into several countries in Europe. They are now forest-dwelling. The species has had few recent predators besides humans, with only scattered reports from the 19th century of wolf and bear predation. European bison were first scientifically described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Some later descriptions treat the European bison as conspecific with the American bison. It is not to be confused with the aurochs, the extinct ancestor of domestic cattle.In 1996, the International Union for Conservation of Nature classified the European bison as an endangered species. Its status has since been changed to being a vulnerable species. In the past, especially during the Middle Ages, it was commonly killed for its hide and to produce drinking horns.The European bison is a national animal of Poland and Belarus.
Animals of the same family as a European bison
We found other animals of the Bovidae family:
- Bontebok with 1 babies per litter
- Common duiker with a size of 96.1 cm (3′ 2″)
- Red-fronted gazelle with a size of 88.5 cm (2′ 11″)
- Goat with 1 babies per litter
- Siberian ibex with an average maximal age of 22.25 years
- Bates’s pygmy antelope with a size of 54 cm (1′ 10″)
- Markhor with a size of 1.59 meter (5′ 3″)
- American bison with a size of 2.85 meter (9′ 5″)
- Saudi gazelle bringing 16 kilos (35.27 lbs) to the scale
- Soemmerring’s gazelle with a size of 1.36 meter (4′ 6″)
Animals with the same size as a European bison
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as European bison:
- Water buffalo with a size of 2.65 meter (8′ 9″)
- Javan rhinoceros with a size of 3.1 meter (10′ 3″)
- American bison with a size of 2.85 meter (9′ 5″)
- Short-beaked common dolphin with a size of 2.44 meter (8′ 1″)
- Leopard seal with a size of 3.05 meter (10′ 0″)
- Moose with a size of 2.83 meter (9′ 4″)
- Amazonian manatee with a size of 2.75 meter (9′ 1″)
- Common eland with a size of 2.66 meter (8′ 9″)
- African buffalo with a size of 2.53 meter (8′ 4″)
- Sumatran rhinoceros with a size of 2.77 meter (9′ 2″)
Animals with the same litter size as a European bison
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (1) as a European bison:
- Kolan vole
- Fulvus roundleaf bat
- Moonrat
- Pale-throated sloth
- Père David’s vole
- Eld’s deer
- Giant golden-crowned flying fox
- Smoky pocket gopher
- Koslov’s pika
- Schreber’s yellow bat
Animals with the same life expectancy as a European bison
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a European bison:
- Mantled guereza with an average maximal age of 24.5 years
- Jaguar with an average maximal age of 23 years
- Banteng with an average maximal age of 26.5 years
- Bighorn sheep with an average maximal age of 24 years
- South Asian river dolphin with an average maximal age of 28 years
- California sea lion with an average maximal age of 30 years
- South American sea lion with an average maximal age of 24.75 years
- Addax with an average maximal age of 25.67 years
- Eurasian otter with an average maximal age of 22 years
- Leopard with an average maximal age of 23 years
Animals with the same weight as a European bison
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Bison bonasus:
- Kouprey with a weight of 788.66 kilos (1738.7 lbs)
- African buffalo with a weight of 592.83 kilos (1306.96 lbs)
- Banteng with a weight of 631.49 kilos (1392.2 lbs)
- Giant eland with a weight of 644.51 kilos (1420.9 lbs)
- Short-finned pilot whale with a weight of 726 kilos (1600.55 lbs)
- Long-finned pilot whale with a weight of 800 kilos (1763.7 lbs)
- Common eland with a weight of 561.8 kilos (1238.56 lbs)
- Moose with a weight of 541.46 kilos (1193.71 lbs)
- American bison with a weight of 622.29 kilos (1371.91 lbs)
- Bactrian camel with a weight of 550.76 kilos (1214.22 lbs)