German police shot rare cows 250 years a time

The International Fund for Nature Protection (WWF) said it would file charges against German police who ordered hunters to shoot and kill a bison. This is said to be the first bison to appear in the wild in Germany for the past 250 years, Independent reported.

German police said a man saw the bison appear near the Oder River, Lebus town, on September 13.

The police later identified the creature as a threat to the safety of the community and ordered it to be killed.

'The killing of an animal that is strictly protected and does not pose a danger is a criminal offense,' said WWF's natural conservation director, Christoph Heinrich.

A bison has just appeared in the German wild environment.(Illustration).

"After more than 250 years, a wild bison was discovered in Germany and all the authorities could think of was shooting it," he told The Local.

WWF said: "The behavior of bison is not a threat to humans."

Heinrich added: "The shooting of the unlucky bison is also a sign of the government's inability to deal with wildlife.

"In this area there is a lack of professionally trained staff."

The bison is believed to have come from Ujście Warty National Park, Poland to Germany. The national park is located on the border between the two countries.

European bison is the largest herbivore on this continent. They are identified as vulnerable species in the Red Book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

According to IUCN, bison was widely seen in Western Europe, central and southeastern Europe. But by the end of the 19th century, only two populations of bison were living in Białowieza forest and the Caucasus Mountains.

The animal was then extinct in the wild in 1927. Currently, European bison populations are kept in only 30 countries around the world.