Ancient bison are coming back starting in Kent...

They've been absent in the UK wild for thousands of years, but now a special project is welcoming these "Woolly bulldozers" home

- RICHARD FLEURY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Freelance journalist and film-maker Richard Fleury has reported on everything from marine life to motor racing. His writing has appeared in numerous national magazines and newspapers including The Times, The Guardian, Wired and The Red Bulletin.

IT'S A CRISP WINTER morning in Kent. I'm on the trail of a giant that once roamed prehistoric Britain alongside woolly mammoths and saber-toothed cats. A muddy car park between a caravan dealer and a car body shop seems an unusual place to begin, but waiting for me are Tom Gibbs and Donovan Wright: Britain's first bison rangers.

This spring, bison return to the UK following an absence of thousands of years. A pioneering conservation scheme will reintroduce these long-lost mega-mammals to one of south-east England's largest areas of ancient woodland.

Tom and Don are based at Wildwood wildlife park, 8km outside Canterbury on the edge of the sprawling Blean Woods, known as 'the Blean'. Selected from over 1,200 applicants for 2021's coolest job vacancy, Tom and Don can't quite believe their luck. “I still have to pinch myself,” says Tom, previously a conservation officer for Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust.

Funded by the People's Postcode Lottery, the scheme - called Wilder Blean - is a collaboration between the Wildwood Trust and the Kent Wildlife Trust. Don describes the £1,575,000 project as "very special”. As a former safari ranger in southern Africa, he should know.