Eat, roam, repeat: Can the bison’s big appetite stop Spain’s forest fires?

Conservationists hope the return of the near-extinct herbivore – ‘a living strimmer’ – will clear the undergrowth that fuels firesAs the temperatures begin to rise, Spain is braced for another summer of the forest fires that over the past 10 years have destroyed about 741,000 hectares (1.8m acres) of forest. Last year, fires consumed 45,000 hectares according to government estimates, the year before 60,000 hectares, and there are signs that, as in California and Australia, the fires are becoming more frequent and more intense.The bison opens up dense parts of the forest, which lets in light and allows grass to grow instead of scrub Related: Wildfires are ruinous - so how to stop them happening in the first place? Continue reading...