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Biodiversity: buffalo “landscape engineers” in the marshes of Gironde
Eight water buffalo, arriving from Brittany, entered the Cousseau pond nature reserve, in Lacanau. Their mission is to graze in the marsh all year round, in order to maintain the wetlands and maintain the ecosystem.
(France 2)
Eight water buffalo, arriving from Brittany, entered the Cousseau pond nature reserve, in Lacanau. Their mission is to graze in the marsh all year round, in order to maintain the wetlands and maintain the ecosystem.
After a long journey from Brittany, they are preparing to set foot in a completely new environment. Eight water buffalo were released in the Cousseau pond nature reserve, in Gironde. They took their first steps in the public eye. The beasts measure up to 3 meters long and weigh nearly 350 kg. The herbivore is described by scientists as a landscape engineer. Its mission here will be to eat and trample the ground, to maintain the ecosystem.
Reduce mechanical grinding actions
“They will be used to keep this landscape open and gradually reduce our mechanical crushing actions”, explains François Sargos, the curator of the reserve. The new arrivals will have to live with 30 marsh cows, introduced in 1990. Two years ago, four buffalo had already been released into a Normandy reserve, where they helped recreate biodiversity.
