dec 30 2012151 for the first time since the 18th century the european bison is returning to germany to live in the wild the wisent as it is also known has been brought to the country by a famous prince although the creatures survival is uncertain the project has already attracted considerable attention with nothing but spruce trees for entire square kilometers at a time this managed forest isnt exactly what you would call a wilderness nevertheless the forest together with its ponds and meadows provides shelter to many a rare species in the forest surrounding the town of bad berleburg on the southern edge of north rhinewestphalia in western germany the lynx stalks its prey through the underbrush the black stork breeds in the spring and the kingfisher engages in courtship rituals and almost every day even in rain or snow and on sundays the aristocratic owner drives around in an suv wearing boots and work clothing and always carrying a chainsaw on board the nobleman keeps an eye on things on his estate its part of it says prince richard of saynwittgensteinberleburg 78 one of the most important forest owners in germany people who own factories also have to go there every day he explains inspecting the forest is no trivial matter the estate extends across many of the hills of the rothaar mountains and usually as far as the eye can see it measures about 13000 hectares 32124 acres or 50 square miles or roughly half the land area of manhattan on this particular day the inspection wasnt entirely without incident as is often the case there was a spruce tree lying across the path prince richard later reports at bad berleburg castle where his family has resided for more than 750 years the suv also slipped down an embankment and got stuck in the snow shit says his highness and i didnt have any mobile phone reception either but the afternoon was more successful i saw two female wild boars with 16 piglets says the prince keeping an eye on his animals out in the forest is his hobby he says they include about 300 wild sheep 400 red deer 600 wild boar and so many roe deer that his seven foresters have concluded they are no longer countable the princes daily trips into the forest are about to get a little more interesting germanys first wild bison since 1746 since he hit upon the idea almost a decade ago prince richard has been at the center of germanys most interesting experiment in species conservation now the project which receives about 15 million 2 million in government subsidies is about to enter its critical phase the state environment ministry in dsseldorf issued its approval shortly before christmas and over the next few days several men will drive into the forest and remove the fence around an acclimation enclosure in place since 2010 when that happens a herd of eight european bison or wisent will be