Three kilometers away from the town, on the National Route 66, there is the famous bison reservation, the first location on the Romanian territory where the European bison (Bison bonasus) has been reintroduced , after it disappeared from the country’s fauna in 1852.
The story of one of the symbols of Haţeg Town began on the 12th of November, 1958, when a pair of bisons – Podarec and Polonka – were brought from Poland. Five years later, another specimen, Pumila, was brought also from Poland. They reproduced and thus, in the year 1979, there were already 12 bisons in the Slivuţ-Haţeg Bison Reservation. An unwritten but scrupulously respected law says that the names of the cubs born in our country must begin with the letter “R” or even with the indicative “RO”.
Therefore, all of the more than 50 “little bisons” who were born in Haţeg over the 54 years of the Reservation bore such names. The first ones were: Roman, Retezat and Romina. In the year 2002, three specimens of bison were brought to Haţeg from Bucşani. In 2012, a total of ten bisons were living in the reservation located 3 km away from Haţeg. The grown-ups, Roşu, Romeo, Romaniţa, Roxi, Roxana and Rozina, were aged 3 to 13 years. The administrators of the reservation pride themselves on the absolute record represented by the four cubs that began their life in the summer of that year: Romulus, Roman, Rodica and Roibu. “It is the first time that each of the four females of the Haţeg-Slivuţ Reservation has a cub.
Having 4 little bisons in one year is something that has never happened before”, said Petru Crăciunescu, forester of Retezat Forestry Office, Hunedoara Forestry Directorate, who has been managing the reservation and taking care of the impressive, precious animals for 17 years, together with his wife. In 2004, the bison family from Slivuţ-Haţeg welcomed the arrival of another specimen, Roxana. Unfortunately, in 2014, seven specimens died from a disease called “blue tongue” and currently, a number of 6 specimens live in the reservation, 3 males and 3 females.
Reservation of Bisons “Slivut” – Hateg
Distance: 3 km from Hateg on DN 66.
The inspection Schedule: daily hours 08:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Entry: 6 ron – adult and 4 ron – Child
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