After a bison was found dead on Poland’s border with Belarus, and 20 more were claimed to be trapped there, Poland’s environment ministry and border guard have denied claims that the situation is linked to a razor-wire fence recently erected there to prevent illegal crossings by migrants and refugees.
They say that the deceased bison had previously been seen looking “ill” and died of “natural causes”. But an opposition MP has appealed to the prime minister and local officials to “free the animals as soon as possible”.
The issue was brought to public attention yesterday by Adam Wajrak, an environmental journalist, who posted a photograph of a dead bison in front of a razor-wire fence of the type Poland last year placed along the border with Belarus amid a surge in crossings, mainly by people from the Middle East.
“Unfortunately, what I expected and many specialists warned about has happened: pockets were created between the fences which became a death trap for animals,” wrote Wajrak, who claimed that around 20 bison were currently caught at the border and “doomed to starvation”.
“These are our [Polish] bison” who had crossed into Belarus but then been unable to return because of the fence, claimed Wajrak. Noting that the Belarusian side is “not interested in tackling this situation”, he appealed to the Polish authorities to help the animals by creating safe passages.
His appeal was backed by Hanna Gill-Piątek, an opposition MP, who wrote to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, the director of Białowieża National Park, and the head of the province in which it is located.
Wajrak said that his claims were based on “Polish military sources” and “information coming from Belarusian sources”. Independent verification of the situation at the border is difficult due to the Polish government banning non-residents – including the media and NGOs – from visiting the area.
The animals’ alleged plight has been picked up for propaganda purposes by Belarusian government media, which claim that the fences put up by the Polish border guard are more dangerous than those used by Belarus, reports Gazeta Wyborcza.
Around 30 bison “were hostages to the Polish political decisions that deprived not only people but also animals of their freedom of movement”, they wrote. Throughout the border crisis, the Belarusian regime has used the situation to seek to discredit Poland.
In response to yesterday’s appeals, Małgorzata Golińska, a deputy environment minister who is also Poland’s chief nature conservation officer, confirmed that she had received information about the trapped animals from Belarusian officials. But she denied all the accusations, saying that the information had proven to be incorrect.
She confirmed that individual bison have been sighted on the Belarusian side, adding that the one from the photo was, “according to experts, old and died of natural causes”. A spokeswoman for the border guard, Anna Michalska, confirmed that Polish patrols noticed a bison that “looked ill” on the other side of the border.
If it had been hurt while trying to get through the fence, it would have had marks on it, she added, noting that the Polish razor-wire fence has been covered by a special protective netting to protect animals from being injured.
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Od początku trudnej sytuacji na granicy, polskie służby ochrony przyrody, w tym pracownicy Parku Narodowego, pozostają w ścisłej współpracy ze służbami mundurowymi, monitorując sytuację przebywających tam zwierząt. Jeśli zauważamy sytuacje dla nich niebezpieczne, reagujemy.— Małgorzata Golińska (@ma_golinska) January 20, 2022
The 418 km border with Belarus, which spans forested areas and had up till last summer been largely unfenced, is crossed by migration routes of various wild animals, including lynx, deer, bears, wolves and European bison.
After initially erecting the 2.5-metre-tall razor-wire fence in September, the government in November decided to replace it with an “impenetrable wall” along the border that will be equipped with motion sensors and a monitoring system.
Construction of the wall, which is estimated to cost 1.6 billion zloty (€348 million), is due to be completed by the summer. Officials assured that it will have special safe passages for animals that migrate in the region.
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Agnieszka Wądołowska is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She has previously worked for Gazeta.pl and Tokfm.pl and contributed to Gazeta Wyborcza, Wysokie Obcasy, Duży Format, Midrasz and Kultura Liberalna
