It is hard to guess what a European bison weights. But we have the answer:
An adult European bison (Bison bonasus) on average weights 674.44 kg (1486.88 lbs).
The European bison is from the family Bovidae (genus: Bison). It is usually born with about 23.38 kg (51.54 lbs). They can live for up to 27 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 2.9 meter (9′ 7″). On average, European bisons can have babies 1 times per year with a litter size of 1.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
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:
- Greater kudu bringing 205.53 kilos (453.12 lbs) to the scale
- Bharal bringing 52.16 kilos (114.99 lbs) to the scale
- Dama gazelle bringing 71.42 kilos (157.45 lbs) to the scale
- Zebra duiker bringing 15.53 kilos (34.24 lbs) to the scale
- Mountain gazelle bringing 21.25 kilos (46.85 lbs) to the scale
- Nyala bringing 87.31 kilos (192.49 lbs) to the scale
- Himalayan tahr bringing 68.26 kilos (150.49 lbs) to the scale
- Rhim gazelle bringing 24.47 kilos (53.95 lbs) to the scale
- Salt’s dik-dik bringing 3.4 kilos (7.5 lbs) to the scale
- Scimitar oryx bringing 198.4 kilos (437.4 lbs) to the scale
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:
- Short-finned pilot whale with a weight of 726 kilos (1600.55 lbs)
- American bison with a weight of 622.29 kilos (1371.91 lbs)
- Cattle with a weight of 615.82 kilos (1357.65 lbs)
- Moose with a weight of 541.46 kilos (1193.71 lbs)
- Kouprey with a weight of 788.66 kilos (1738.7 lbs)
- Bactrian camel with a weight of 550.76 kilos (1214.22 lbs)
- Long-finned pilot whale with a weight of 800 kilos (1763.7 lbs)
- Gayal with a weight of 800.07 kilos (1763.85 lbs)
- Banteng with a weight of 631.49 kilos (1392.2 lbs)
- Common eland with a weight of 561.8 kilos (1238.56 lbs)
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:
- Giant eland with a size of 2.52 meter (8′ 4″)
- Common bottlenose dolphin with a size of 2.83 meter (9′ 4″)
- Steller sea lion with a size of 2.7 meter (8′ 11″)
- Mediterranean monk seal with a size of 2.6 meter (8′ 7″)
- Hooded seal with a size of 2.33 meter (7′ 8″)
- Grévy’s zebra with a size of 2.7 meter (8′ 11″)
- Gayal with a size of 2.7 meter (8′ 11″)
- Water buffalo with a size of 2.65 meter (8′ 9″)
- Leopard seal with a size of 3.05 meter (10′ 0″)
- Dugong with a size of 2.55 meter (8′ 5″)
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:
- Pacific white-sided dolphin
- Lowland paca
- Felou gundi
- Greater false vampire bat
- Yellow-spotted rock hyrax
- Checkered elephant shrew
- Tonkin snub-nosed monkey
- Long-nosed mosaic-tailed rat
- Scimitar oryx
- Tapeti
Animals with the same life expectancy as a European bison
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a European bison:
- Collared peccary with an average maximal age of 24.42 years
- Greater horseshoe bat with an average maximal age of 30 years
- Aardwolf with an average maximal age of 25 years
- Golden lion tamarin with an average maximal age of 24.75 years
- Serval with an average maximal age of 23 years
- Lion with an average maximal age of 30 years
- Sambar deer with an average maximal age of 26.42 years
- Dusky leaf monkey with an average maximal age of 25 years
- Angolan talapoin with an average maximal age of 30.83 years
- White-bellied spider monkey with an average maximal age of 28 years