rjzimmerman:

Bison expert Rafal Kowalczyk spotted the cow this week on the outskirts of Poland’s Bialowieza Forest. Rafal Kowalczyk/AP

Excerpt:

The Bialowieza Forest, which spans 350,000 acres between Poland and Belarus, is home to a vulnerable population of about 600 bison. But this winter, the forest also became home to a reddish brown cow who decided to escape domestic life for some time in the wild. Poland’s TVN24 news portal reports an ornithologist first spotted her in November, wandering the outskirts of the forest with a herd of about 50 bison.

This week, Rafal Kowalczyk, a bison expert and director of the Mammal Research Institute at the Polish Academy of Sciences, spotted the cow again. He told TVN24 that she appears healthy. She is a Limousin cow, which means she has thick fur, and eastern Poland has had a relatively mild winter. He also says the bison herd she is traveling with appears to be doing a good job of finding nutrient-rich food like corn.

“This isn’t the first time in this region that a cow has escaped, but it’s the first time that a cow has joined a herd of bison,” Kowalczyk told TVN24. “With the bison, it’s safe from wolves. If it was on its own, it would likely fall victim to wolves.”

Rebellious Cow Finds Winter Home Among Polish Bison