Roughly 21 bison have died in Romania in the \u021aarcu Mountains, Cara\u0219-Severin county, in the last 40 days due to an epidemic. According to media reports, local authorities say that the situation becomes critical if the mortality rate exceeds 10\u201315%.<\/p>\n
The deaths prompted an investigation by the Cara\u0219-Severin Sanitary-Veterinary Directorate, which found dangerous bacteria, including Clostridium perfringens<\/em>, which can cause food poisoning, severe infections, and even death in animals, as well as streptococci, Biziday.ro<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n The last death was recorded last week, on Friday, September 19.<\/p>\n The prefect of Cara\u0219-Severin, Ioan Dragomir, admitted that the death of the 21 bison is a problem, but \u201cthe situation becomes critical only if the mortality rate exceeds 10\u201315% of the total population.\u201d There are currently about 300 bison in the reservation, according to Biziday.ro.<\/p>\n The local official added that the animals died due to a massive parasitic infestation, involving several types of larvae, rather than poisoning, as initially believed. The bodies of the deceased bison were incinerated to protect other animals in the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bison are the largest species of herbivorous mammals in Europe. They disappeared from Romania for 150 years due to excessive hunting and habitat destruction, but have benefited from a reintroduction program in recent decades. Specimens were brought from Poland, and the population has grown continuously since then.<\/p>\n At present, more than 4,000 bison reportedly live in Romania\u2019s mountains, both in reserves and outside them.<\/p>\n