A RARE European bison from the Highlands has been sent to Romania to be ­reintroduced into the wild.

European bison were driven to extinction in the wild by the early 20th century as a result of hunting and destruction of their habitat, conservationists said.

Captive breeding programmes in European zoos and reintroductions have led to a gradual rise in numbers, and the project in Romania aims to establish a self-sustaining population there and boost the variety of wildlife in the region.

Reintroductions have established free-ranging and semi-free herds in Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and Slovakia.

Six female captive-bred bison from Highland Wildlife Park, Inverness-shire, Port Lympne and Howletts Wild Animal Park, Kent, and Fota Wildlife Park, Cork, Ireland, were transported to Vanatori Neamt Nature Park in Romania's Carpathian Mountains.

The bison will be monitored with radio-collars and will become part of an existing herd of European bison introduced from captive populations in Germany, Sweden and Switzerland.

The move of the six bison was carried out by the Aspinall Foundation in collaboration with the wildlife parks, and in partnership with the Vanatori Neamt Nature Park, the European Bison breeding programme and European Wilderness Society.

Douglas Richardson, head of living collections for Highland Wildlife Park, said: "This project is an example of how zoos within the ­European Zoo Association's co-ordinated breeding programmes are helping to save species from extinction.

"I am delighted Highland Wildlife Park's female bison Glen Rosa will be playing her part in the continuing reintroduction of a species that had become extinct in the wild less than a century ago."