#bisonhillocklive

[bisonhillock]

Hunters and guides on the path of conservation

The first week of autumn came to the Bison Hillock brining along with rusty leaves and chilly winds many friends from near and far.

We welcomed to our team Nicolo, from Italy, who will be our compass for everything GIS (geographic information system) related and also Sebastian, Swedish wilderness guide, who is preparing to become our main local guide.

Wasting no time the Taskforce went exploring the region, discovering new trails and getting to know each other. It’s very clear the coming months will be filled with intense field work, travels and laughter.

Tracking workshop

For 2 days, a group of 7 hunters from Armeniș attended a track and signs workshop led by Tony, an expert in tracking with 7 years of extensive experience gained in Africa and Europe.

The hunters engaged with one another to recognise birds, rodents, canine and bison tracks. Though they are used to following only certain types of tracks in their usual routine, now they can practice following smaller animals like beetles and otters that offer more detailed insight into the ecosystem.

One advice Tony gave everybody is not to over-rationalise when they see a track. Sometimes the first idea is the best.

An app will be developed to be used by the hunters to monitor tracks and wildlife sightings.  This tracking exercise and the next steps play a role in strengthening the bond between the conservation programme and a correct management of the forests.

Guiding course

At the same time, a guiding course lead by Georg, who has been the principal nature guide in the area for the past few years, took place in the Bison Hillock. Danne, Sebastian, two local tour guides Christian and Engelber alongside, Lica and Ion, two park rangers from the Vânători Neamț Natural Parkand spent 48 hours roaming the deep forest and slept under the stars at the Tara observatory.

The course was centered around bison tracking and group exercises meant to increase awareness to the immediate environment. In one of the exercises they stayed in silence for three quarters of an hour watching and listening to nature.

“Those forty minutes revealed what would be the essence of the guiding course. By exposing ourselves to a seemingly unchanging environment, our senses awoke and began to see and hear what was previously not noticed.” expressed Danne after the experience ended.

The lessons learned and the connections built during this week will flourish to benefit the entire community, the conservation programme and our long-lasting partnerships across the country and internationally.  

Text: Bianca Ștefanuț 

Photos: Bianca Ștefanuț & Alina Floroi

[magurazimbrilor]

Idei de tehnologie Blockchain pentru a stimula dezvoltarea durabilă în Armeniș

În atmosfera minunată a Munților Tarcu, inițiativa de resălbăticire din Măgura Zimbrilor a găzduit timp de două zile un brainstorming, cu scopul de a dezvolta o idee viabilă care ar permite naturii și dezvoltării durabile să colaboreze mai bine, folosind caracteristicile unice ale tehnologiei blockchain: descentralizare, încredere, transparență.

WWF România s-a întâlnit cu Marcus Dap de la ETH Zurich (Universitatea Tehnică Federală din Zürich), Toni Caradonna și Roman Eyholzer, ambii de la Fundația Porini. Pentru a încuraja o atmosferă inovativă, la întâlnire a participat unul dintre internii din Taskforce-ul Măgura Zimbrilor, Danne Milo van Ronne, și Gelu Stoicănescu, un absolvent recent al Facultății de Finanțe și Matematică. Echipa WWF a fost reprezentată de Oana Mondoc, ghidul spre tehnologiile inovatoare în cadrul WWF România, Corina Gheorghiu, specialist în economie ecologică și Alina Floroi, un partener extern care oferă sprijin în cadrul proiectului tehnologic.

Sesiunea s-a încheiat cu o experiență de urmarire a zimbrilor condusă de rangerul Daniel Hurduzeu. Grupul a fost deosebit de norocos, deoarece participanții au reușit să vadă urme de zimbru, cerb, urs, râs și bursuc pe drum.

După ce au mers pe urmele zimbrilor, au auzit zgomotul lor într-o poiană. Rangerul a ghidat toată lumea în pădure pentru a merge în jurul zimbrului și a căuta un unghi bun pentru a-I vedea de departe. Câțiva membrii ai echipei au reușit să surprindă un grup de aproximativ 6 zimbri și doi viței înainte ca aceștia să fugă în pădure.

Ce implicații are munca depusă

Marcus și echipa sa de la ETH, inclusiv cadre universitare din întreaga Europă, dezvoltă un sistem de stimulare financiară nou, nuanțat și multilateral, pentru a promova o economie circulară, divizibilă și pentru a atinge obiective sociale prin colaborare. Fundația Porini este un mecanism de deschidere a drumurilor pentru aducerea technologiei blockchain în lumea conservării, stabilind soluția descentralizată a lanțului de sustenabilitate pentru a avea grijă de lumea naturală și alte obiective comune care fac parte din Obiectivele ONU de Dezvoltare Durabilă.

Tehnologia Blockchain permite colaborarea unor rețele mari de oameni care nu se cunosc neapărat între ei. Cheia acestei tehnologii stă în faptul că informațiile din sistem nu pot fi modificate de un singur participant. De asemenea, tehnologia permite oamenilor să ajungă cu ușurință la un consens.

Modul în care tehnologia blockchain poate acționa în platforma tech-nature care se dezvoltă în Armeniș se conectează cu nevoia de a activa părțile interesate pentru a aprecia importanța naturii și a înțelege că acțiunile pozitive au cu adevărat un impact.

O mulțime de proiecte legate de natură suferă din cauza lipsei de vizualizare și de înțelegere a impactului acestora. Aceasta este în special o frustrare pentru donatorii care doresc să știe dacă banii donați de ei au un efect.

Cum vedem viitorul 

WildAI [eye] prevede creșterea impactului monitorizării vieții sălbatice, prin proiectarea unui sistem de inteligență artificială (AI) care conține dispozitive mici de urmărire GPS care pot fi montate pe zimbri, carnivore mari și alte mamifere mari. Acest proiect este o platformă de lansare pentru a produce instrumente rentabile pentru monitorizarea pe scară largă a speciilor sălbatice adaptate la terenul dificil din Carpați. Captarea automată a datelor de pe teren va contribui la crearea unui sistem care să permită o vizualizare exactă a stării de sănătate a ecosistemului.

Blockchain poate ajuta la alinierea intereselor zonelor sălbatice și bunăstarea localnicilor și va oferi un scenariu în care o dezvoltare armonioasă poate să ofere protecție faunei sălbatice. "Prin rezolvarea nevoilor naturale, rezolvăm nevoile sociale și viceversa", a fost viziunea exprimată în cadrul atelierului.

WildAI [eye] a stabilit o etapă de 6 luni pentru atingerea etapei MVP în domeniul monitorizarii hardware, a platformei GIS online și a instrumentelor blockchain.

WildAI [eye] este primul pilot al WWF-România ca "Panda Lab". Prin intermediul laboratoarelor Panda Labs, WWF lucrează cu tehnologie, business, design, mediul academic și conservare pentru a dezvolta noi abordări pentru a rezolva cele mai stringente probleme ale planetei noastre. Panda Lab va deveni acceleratorul descentralizat al WWF România, o comunitate de rezolvare a problemelor care are ca scop atragerea de parteneri și finanțarea treptată.

Urmariți dezvoltarea proiectului pe canalele WWF:

Facebook WWF Romania

Instagram

Twitter 

Text: Alina Floroi

Fotografii: Alina Floroi, Toni Caradonna, Oana Mondoc

[bisonhillock]

Ideas of Blockchain technology to reboost development in Armenis

In the wonderfully inspiring atmosphere of Tarcu Mountains, the Bison Hillock wilderness initiative hosted two days of intense brainstorming with the aim to refine a viable idea that would enable nature and sustainable development to work together more seamlessly, with using the unique features of blockchain technology: decentralisation, trust, transparency. 

WWF Romania has met with Marcus Dap of ETH Zurich  (Federal Technical University from Zurich), Toni Caradonna and Roman Eyholzer, both from Porini Foundation. To encourage an inquisitive atmosphere, the meeting was joined by one of the interns from the Bison Hillock Taskforce,  Danne Milo van Ronne, and Gelu Stoicănescu, a recent graduate in Finance and Mathematics. WWF’s team included Oana Mondoc, the driver of innovative technologies within WWF Romania, joined by Green Economy Specialist  Corina Gheorghiu and Alina Floroi, an external partner who gives a hand on cohesion within the tech project.

The session ended with a bison tracking experience led by ranger Daniel Hurduzeu. The group was especially lucky since participants were able to see bison, deer, bear, lynx and badger tracks on their way.

Following the bison tracks, they heard bison grunting in a glade. The ranger-guided everybody in the forest to go around the bison and look for a good angle to see them from afar. Some of the team managed to catch a glimpse of a group of about six bison and two calves before they ran away in the forest.

What does the work involve

Marcus and his team at ETH, including academics from around Europe are developing a new, nuanced and multifaceted financial incentive system to promote a circular, sharing economy and achieve social goals collaboratively. Porini Foundation is a road opener in bringing blockchain to the conservation world, having established the Sustainability Chain decentralised solution to take care of the natural worlds and other shared goals part of UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Blockchain technology enables the collaboration of large networks of people that don’t necessarily know each other. The key to blockchain technology is the fact that information in the system cannot be changed by a single player. The technology also allows people to easily reach a consensus.

The way blockchain technology can be a piece in the tech-nature platform developing in Armeniș has a lot to do with the need to activate groups of stakeholders to appreciate the importance of nature and understand that positive actions have an impact.

A lot of nature-related projects suffer from the lack of visualisation and understanding of their impact. This is especially a frustration for donors who want to know if the money donated by them has an effect.

How we see the future

WildAI [eye] envisions increasing the impact of wildlife monitoring, by designing an AI (artificial intelligence) system that contains small GPS trackers that can be attached to bison and large carnivores and other large mammals. This project is the launch-pad to produce cost-effective tools for large-scale wildlife monitoring adapted to the tricky terrain in the Carpathians. Automated data acquisition from the field will help create a system that enables accurate visualisation of the health of the ecosystem.

Blockchain can help align interests of wild landscapes and locals’ wellbeing and deliver a case where harmonious development that can provide wildlife protection. “Through resolving nature needs, we resolve social needs and vice versa”, was the vision expressed during the workshop.

The WildAI [eye] has set a 6-month milestone to reach MVP stage in the hardware tracking, GIS online platform and blockchain instruments

WildAI [eye] is WWF-Romania’s first pilot as a “Panda Lab”. Through Panda Labs, WWF works with technology, business, design, academia and conservation to develop new approaches to solving our planet's most stringent problems. Panda Lab is to become WWF Romania’s decentralised accelerator, a community for problem-solving aiming to attract partners and finance gradually.

Keep in touch with the developments by following us:

Facebook WWF Romania

Instagram

Twitter

Text: Alina Floroi

Photos: Alina Floroi, Toni Caradonna, Oana Mondoc

[bisonhillock]

The Taskforce dives into work

Days fly by when there is so much to explore and learn from nature, locals and research papers.

In the past week, our young professionals dove right into their work.

Astarte and Ariane made a great team assessing more than 12 hamlets on the rolling hills of the old Plopu village. This spatial analysis is essential in the overall study and to better understand and devise concrete ways to minimise human-wildlife conflict.

In the meantime, Tristian discovered in the front yard of the old countryside house the best spot for a camera trap; hiding equipment in plain sight is an essential exercise before setting the camera in the wilderness.

In their incursion into the rewilding area with the experienced rangers, the Taskforce took coordinates of where signal is present to better understand the area and fine-tune the equipment that will be used in tracking bison.  

Danne, Cătălin and Bianca continued to explore the region in search of the perfect hiking trails linking villages and the Tara wildlife observatory - a „design and build” project finalised last year by WWF-Romania and Camposaz. You can find out more about the observatory here.

Under the intense gaze of the sun, the team worked on identifying the most appropriate location along the European Road (E70), between Teregova and Armeniș, where sand boxes can be placed. These installations will then provide information about the animals that use these spots as corridors of passage and how we can ensure their safe crossing in the future.

Danne, Astarte, Ariane and Tristian were guided by Cătălin in the search and identification of tracks from animals who crossed this busy and dangerous road. They made annotations of the markings on the mobile outdoor navigation app taking into consideration also surrounding factors such as the railway, the distance from the river and the stone parapet. Our dedicated team also consulted studies such as the mapping methodology of the wilderness areas of the South-West Carpathians.

Sunshine was illusive in the higher altitudes of Țarcu Mountains where the Taskforce explored the alpine area and had a taste of the harsh conditions, far away from the shelter of the village or the forest. Embraced by fog, dense rain and swift winds the hike to the Meteorological Station at an altitude of 2190 meters was an experience to remember.

The sweetness of blueberries, the warm welcome of the meteorologist with warm tea and an extraordinary sunrise melted any trace of the cold hike up the mountain.

The excursion proved to be very educational and offered first hand insight into the ecosystem through which bison should cross sometime in the future in order to migrate to the wider area of Retezat Mountains National Park.  

A Blockchain workshop in Rusca is in progress this weekend with international experts and the Taskforce is looking forward to the trip to Vânatori Neamț National Park next week and exchanging good practices with the team there.

Are you eager to find out what the Blockchain workshop touched upon? Curious to see how bison in Vânatori Neamț are doing? Stay connected to WWF Romania channels and follow the action with the hashtag: #Bison HillockLive

Text: Bianca Stefanut

Photos: Bianca Stefanut, Tristian Herbert & Astarte Maria Cîrstea  

[bisonhillock]

Welcome to our ambitious and excited team!

The Bison Hillock is already abuzz with the presence of our diverse and eager interns as they dive into work and enjoy the beauty and picturesque local community.

After settling in to their new home, a cosy, traditional farm house in Sat Batran, the adventure started.

Ariane, our go to person for human-wildlife conflict mitigation found the tracks and signs course with our guide Georg (Wilderness Guides Association), and Tony from CyberTracker Italy most useful.

“Amazing how much information a few little tracks give us about the animal and its behaviour! It definitely taught me to have eye for detail, such as bison hairs and mud on plants where bison passed by. This place is truly bursting with life, you just have to know where to look for it – in the mud!”

Astarte, our specialist in analysing the impact bison have on seedlings & debarking also found the tracking course valuable. She was also impressed by the local wood craftsmanship and the process of making home-made rachie in Armenis.

“I'm really enjoying my time here so far in the Bison Hillock.” Tristian, our behavior studies and slow release conditions guru shared with us his first impressions of the bison release site where he realised the potential of this region and also the challenges there will be to implement new tracking technologies in this mountainous range.

Tristian is really interested in outreach and has a conservation blog in which he will post about his time in Romania, you can check it out here: https://ourwildhope.wordpress.com/.

The key highlight of the first week was spotting 6 bison in the rewilding enclosure and, best of all, 4 in the wild. Out of the 4 females, one had an aggressive manner, perfectly normal display of its wild nature.

This is just the beginning, more field work, long hikes, intense research will be done and local traditions will be discovered as part of the WildAI [eye] project.

Follow us on social media using the hashtag: #BisonHillockLive and stay up to date by visiting our website: www.bisonhillock.ro

[bisonhillock]

Team effort to ensure the future of wild bison in the Carpathians

Traveling across the country to meet, learn and exchange good practices from the first Natural Park to release bison into the wild in Romania proved to be an exceptional experience for the team of recent graduates.

After a short stop in Brasov to admire the beauty of the city hugged by mountains and celebrate the birthday of our colleague Ariane, the winding roads led us to the Natural Park Vânători Neamţ which is situated in the north of the Neamţ county and spreads across 30.818 hectares, out of which 26.190 hectares are of forest.

The administration of the park, lead by Mr. Sebastian Catanoiu, welcomed the Bison Hillock Team warmly and proceeded to exchange on the state of the conservation project overall and the immense progress noticed both in Vânători Neamţ and Armeniș.

Vânători Neamţ is the only park where bison can be found roaming free (37 bison) in an acclimatisation enclosure (12 bison) and also in captivity as part of the Zoo of the Vânători commune.  

Rangers helped the newcomers discover the 80 hectares of the acclimatisation enclosure and not small was the surprise to come face to face with a male bison just at the beginning of the journey, feeding on leftover hay. We stared at each other for what seemed to be an infinite moment suspended in time after which both parties went on their way through the binding trails of the secular forest.

The next encounter was no less impressive with a male resting and allowing everyone to watch him from less than 10 meters away as he dozed slowly keeping flies at bay with his tail. Ariane captured this impressive photograph above just as the bison was waking up. 

The team gathered information on the state of the herd, 10 bison with two calves from last year, led by an alfa female and a male and also on the two solitary males that roam the enclosure. They also were glad to hear about the bison that are in the wild out of which two males wearing tracking collars, facilitating their monitorisation.

Good news is always welcomed, and the story of a calf born inDecember of 2012 that is now a strong mother to be overjoyed the interns who dreamt probably of being the first someday to witness a bison birth in the wild.

The week ended on a high note with the team accompanying a filming crew which intended to capture the role of the bison in shaping the ecosystem.  The shot-list seemed difficult to accomplish but with the precious knowledge of the Vânători Neamţ rangers and the strategy laid down in a practice round, three teams set out to find the mighty bison.

A large male gave us a great angle of him debarking a fallen cherry tree, but the absolute cherry on top was the herd which allowed us to get very close and personal. Observing them groom, dust-bathe, eat in a glade and in the forest.

Observing two calves suckling, a one year old and a two-year old, left everyone, even the rangers, breathless and amazed.

How fortunate and what an amazing chance for the interns to analyze the behavior inside the herd and create all the links between these majestic creatures and their environment.

We all want to build upon the dream to have bison roaming free across the Carpathians, thus together with the Natural Park Vânători Neamţ we conduct research: comparative studies and integration of data and work in parallel to develop the WildAI project. 

Text: Bianca Ștefanut 

Photos: Bianca Ștefanut 

[magurazimbrilor]

Echipa Taskforce II este gata de acțiune!

Măgură Zimbrilor este din nou plină de energia pozitivă a noilor interni care timp de patru luni vor învață lucruri noi și savura specificul zonei prin intermediul programului de internship WWF-Internațional.

Misiunea lor este de a colecta informații despre zimbrii eliberați în sălbăticie și habitatul acestora și de a sprijini în dezvoltarea unui nou sistem de moniorizare bazat pe Inteligență Artificială (AI – Artificial Intelligence) care va aduce mari îmbunătățiri eforturilor de conservare.  

Membrii noii echipe au ajuns în Armeniș din Italia, Olanda, Belgia, Suedia, Țara Galilor și alte zone din România.  

După ce s-au stabilit în căsuțele lor rustice din Sat Bătrân, aventura a început cu un curs de identificare a urmelor ghidat de CyberTracker Italia și cu o vizită de recunoaștere a zonei și multe informații primite de la ghizi și rangeri.

“Este de necrezut cât de multă informție despre comportamentul animalelor poți obține din niște urme. Am învățat că trebuie să îți formeti un ochi pentru a vedea detalii precum păr de zimbru și urme de noroi pe plante, pe unde trecuse zimbrul. Acest loc este cu adevărat plin de viață, trebuie doar să știi unde să o cauți – în noroi!” mărturisește încântată Ariane, membră a echipei care are ca prioritate studierea și medierea conflictelor dintre om și natură.

Astarte, specialistă în analiza impactului pe care îl au zimbrii în consumul scoarței și noilor copăcei și probelor fecale, a fost impresionată de tradițiile locale și de felul în care se prelucrează fructele în Armenis pentru a deveni rachie.  

“Mă simt foarte bine aici în Măgură Zimbrilor!”, ne spune Tristian care se ocupă cu studiul comportamentului zimbrilor și cu monitorizarea lor utilizând diferite protocoale și tehnologii. Tristian este pasionat de conservare și are un blog dedicate pentru asta, puteți să îi urmăriți aventurile din România și pretutindeni aici: https://ourwildhope.wordpress.com/

Momentul cheie al primei săptămâni a fost întâlnirea cu 4 femele zimbru în sălbăticie.  

Echipa din anul precedent a avut în vedere  medierea conflictelor dintre om și natură în Măgură Zimbrilor și a construit un puternic fundament pentru noii interni care fac parte din proiectul WildAI [eye] condus de WWF împreună cu parteneri din zona de cercerate și noi technologii din Europa.  

Acesta este doar începutul, vor urma numeroase drumeții, workshop-uri și legende ale zonei de descoperit.  

Urmăriți întregul proiect pe canalele WWF România.  

 For English go here -> http://blog.bisonhillock.ro/post/176836971596/welcome-to-our-ambitious-and-excited-team

Text: Mara Minculescu, Bianca Ştefănuț

Foto: Astarte Cîrstea, Bianca Ştefănuț 

[bisonhillock]

We warm up for the visiting season, by bearing the cold and going out in search of the elusive chamois. Mara, myself and Eleonora who’s doing her Masters thesis on bison habitat use went to Rusca to meet Petru our local guide in all things wild. We drove a bit to find a spot with a full view over the rocky cliffs and stood still looking though the telescope for sudden movements. The many shades of grey of the rocks mixed with some leftover snow are the perfect camouflage for these well adapted, athletic creatures. We missed them, but really enjoyed the frisk fresh air and waking up early on a mission to venture into nature. On our way back, we stopped on the side of the lake trying to identify the birds chilling on the verge of the icy bits of the water. And what came out was quite an artistic picture but no sure ID, just the drive to go back out there, over and over again. Text and photos: Oana Mondoc

[bisonhillock]

Discovering the Țarcu Mountains

If yesterday we had some trully memorable moments(we saw an owl, a bear track and, of course our feast with pears), today was no less amazing. We followed the bison tracks, we saw lots more than yesterday and came across some new spots which we will come back to for sure. On our way back home we met a pretty frightened, but curious, fox. I sneaked behind it because I wanted to surprise it in all its splendor, but it felt my presence very quickly, then froze for a few seconds right before it sprinted into the forest.

Pentru limba Română mergi aici » http://magurazimbrilor.ro/post/166329582597/descoperind-munții-țarcu

Text and photos Daniel Mîrlea

http://www.wwf.ro/visitbison

[bisonhillock]

May is just around the corner and its that time of the year when dozen of colleagues and partners are working hard to prepare the anual bison transports as they make their way to freedom in the Tarcu Mountains and Poiana Rusca Mountains. Fresh images from Tierpark Berlin who are supporting our initiative to create a wild bison population in the South Western Carpathians. This week blood samples were collected and collars mounted on the bison arriving from Germany. These bison are a donation to the Life Bison project which we are implementing with our partners Rewilding Europe and support from Armenis City Hall. We are grateful for the support of everyone who’s heart is beating to help wildlife and wild areas thrive, so that slowly but surely they become the engine for the sustainable development of the communities which call these mountains home.

Foto: Societatea Romana de Salbaticie

[bisonhillock]

Mrs’s Ana stories

In the next period, we will conduct a series of interviews in all the villages of the Armeniș commune. Our goal is to gather insights to help us design the small projects and interventions to help the development of the local community. 

One of the people we interviewed is Mrs. Ana, Danu’s grandmother. For more than an hour, we listened to her stories about her youth, how she spent her days back then and now too. She is a skillful storyteller, which made us forgot the time, as she took us back in the middle of so many beautiful memories. Besides the beautiful stories that she told us, she showed us some photos with baby Danu, photos that represent a real treasure to her. Of course she could not help but show us (the girls, really :-) ) one of her favorite tools and treasures the sewing machine, taking us back in those times in the lady of the house made and mended all the textiles of the family. We enjoyed a lot the time spent with her, but she was happier than us for sure, because the moments when someone opens her door are always special. We left more peaceful from there and we learned a very important lesson, the elders of today's really knew how to make the most of every moment of their lives.

Pentru limba Română mergi aici » https://magurazimbrilor.ro/post/167709288687/la-pove%C8%99ti-cu-doamna-ana

Text and photos Daniel Mîrlea

http://www.wwf.ro/visitbison

[bisonhillock]

Explorind a new National Park: Semenic - Cheile Carașului

Our exploration continues, and, as I said last week, we will go to explore some National Parks from our country. We spent the last few days in the Semenic - Cheile Carașului National Park, a really amazing area from the south-western Romania. We started our exploration with a beautiful view from Carașova Citatel. After that, we started to go down to the gorges. Here we were surprised by some spectacular landscapes, but also things that we do not do every day, like passing over a river just helping us with some wires. This thing increased our adrenaline level and make us pretty hungry. We stayed in there and ate for 15 minutes and we start walking again, even the ground was wet and slippery but did not stop enjoying us the sculptures made by nature and time. The time passed very quickly and we need to end our hiking in there because the evening was coming and we were supposed to go to the Semenic Mountain Rescue chalet. The next day, early in the morning, we went to explore a virgin forest for several hours. Cătălin, our colleagues, explained to us the importance of this kind of forest for the ecosystem. In this hike, we analyze the mushrooms, lichens, tree mussels and better see how the trees are ”fighting” for the light. After returning to Mountain Rescue chalet, we gathered our things, admired once again the area(I don’t know about the other ones, but I promised myself that I will come back to this area to explore it more) and went back to Armeniș.

Pentru limba Română mergi aici » https://magurazimbrilor.ro/post/167531832212/explor%C3%A2nd-un-nou-parc-na%C8%9Bional-semenic-cheile

Text and photos Daniel Mîrlea

http://www.wwf.ro/visitbison

[bisonhillock]

Our days facing winter in Țarcu Mountains - part II

After we spent the night at the weather station, we woke up early in the morning to capture the sunrise. We really wanted to see how the sunlight shines on the freshly fallen snow. It was cold, I can’t lie, but we didn’t want to return under the warm blanket, we stayed outside jumping from here to there. After a very quick breakfast, we started climbing towards Țarcu peak, but unfortunately, we didn’t get up to the top because the fog was too dense. On the trail to the peak, we ran into a very meek and friendly dog, which we all loved. On our way back, we made a promise to ourselves that we will come back to conquer the peek very soon - it is in the end the mountaintop we call home and one of the wildest most spectacular N2000 protected areas in the country :-) (ssst!)

Pentru limba Română mergi aici » http://magurazimbrilor.ro/post/167244945057/%C3%AEnt%C3%A2lnirea-noastr%C4%83-cu-iarna-%C3%AEn-mun%C8%9Bii-%C8%9Barcu

Text and photos Daniel Mîrlea

http://www.wwf.ro/visitbison

[bisonhillock]

Our days facing winter in Țarcu Mountains - part I

There were a few days of freezing temperatures, but don’t think that we were sitting in the house. We went up towards Țarcu peak, to track and (maybe) even meet its wildlife. We prepped our things quicly as it would only be a two day trip and set out for a 3 hours hike to Cuntu peak. As soon as we started climbing, the snow began to fall. As we walked along the trail, we began to see the footsteps of the mountain residents: foxes and wolves. Until we reached our destination, we enjoyed a typical winter landscape and plenty of snow. Cătălin, our new colleague, told us a lot of very useful information about the fauna and the flora of the area. At the cottage, snow was all around us and our ”childish” mood on! As the night set we took cover in the meteo station and over a cozy wood fire started sharing lots of winter stories and memories.

Pentru limba Română mergi aici » http://magurazimbrilor.ro/post/167224682492/%C3%AEnt%C3%A2lnirea-noastr%C4%83-cu-iarna-%C3%AEn-mun%C8%9Bii-%C8%9Barcu

Text and photos Daniel Mîrlea

http://www.wwf.ro/visitbison

[bisonhillock]

Searching for bison

Today, along with Georg, we have decided to search for bison in the forest, meeting which happened a few hours later. We went to the Plopu area and from there we headed to the last GPS position that Guni, bison female leader, last had. On our way to the search for our wonderful ones, we met a squirrel which was making supplies for the winter, and not much further, a curious fox, most likely, looking for something to eat. When we've got to the location indicated by the GPS, we focused our attention on analyzing the bison fresh traces. We followed them into the heart of the forest at least for an hour, place in which we found bison. We spent 15 minutes in there, standing, observing and photographing them, being very grateful for this meeting. When they felt our presence in there, they began to hurry up, going faster and faster to a wild and densely area of the Hillock. We did not stay too long after that because the evening was coming fast and our way home wasn't short at all. To end this hike properly, on the way back, we met a very hardworking woodpecker.

Pentru limba Română mergi aici » http://magurazimbrilor.ro/post/167097307387/în-căutarea-zimbrilor

Text and photos Daniel Mîrlea

http://www.wwf.ro/visitbison

[bisonhillock]

The White River

The White River is a key habitat in the Bison Hillock area because its the lifeline for so many plants and animals. It’s also the center stage for our special wildlife encounters with the forest residents: bison, foxes, otters, owls. Now, in the autumn, it looks just stunning as it makes its way through the colored leaves. Personally I can’t wait to see it and capture with snow all around and expect quite a visual spectacle :) Stay close!

Pentru limba Română mergi aici » http://magurazimbrilor.ro/post/166893472322/râul-alb

Text and photos Daniel Mîrlea

http://www.wwf.ro/visitbison