Visitor record Bison Trail

Since September 2012, it is possible to go on your own making use of a foot path, the so called Bison Trail, in bison area Kraansvlak. The path is open during the months of September until March. During the first opening in the winter of 2012/2013, the path was visited more then 3,500 times. The following winter it was used over 2,700 times, which was outnumbered by more then thousand visits the year after. The past half year, the record has been broken big time as no less then 5,123 visits to the Bison Trail were counted. This means that since the first opening in 2012, more then 15,000 visits have taken place. With a third of the total amount of visits so far, the last opening was a well attended one! As before, Sundays were favorite for walking the trail in the bison area. 

The bird breeding season started March 1st and it means that parts of the dunes have been closed off to avoid interrupting birds from breeding. Therefore like always, the Bison Trail also closed temporarily. Unfortunately, at the end of January we hade to disable the opportunity to check the GPS positions of the bison herd on this website. Too many persons were not following the guidelines set for visiting the area. One of these is: Stay on the path. We found people strolling around throughout the area, and by doing so quietness in the area was disturbed. Traditionally, Kraansvlak is an area not accesible for public, except during guided excursions. It is a resting area where a lot of monitoring and research regarding flora as well as fauna is taking place. Animals and research are disrupted when people are strolling around in the area, neglecting the guidelines such as showing respect for wild animals by keeping distance.

Projectpartners PWN and ARK Nature are very keen to give everyone the chance to see the bison. But we do ask visitors to follow the guidelines, see www.wisenten.nl/en/yourself. This way, you keep the best chance to see and admire the bison as well as the other wildlife while they are busy with their every day normal life.

The rangers of PWN often hear enthusiastic stories when they encounter visitors, in which people tell them about their 'meeting' with the bison. We enjoy sharing these stories with others via this website and our Facebook page. So please continue to send in pictures, movies and stories to www.wisenten.nl.

The Bison Trail will be re-opened in September. Can't wait to visit the area? Please feel welcome to join a ranger and go on an excursion, see www.np-zuidkennemerland.nl/1407/activiteitenkalender for upcoming dates and additional information. But be quick, because as always the excursions are very popular and fill up rapidly.