From Romania to Portugal to the American West, the bison is being sought out as a tool for correctly and naturally managing ecosystems.

A series of reintroductions have seen the bison return to a landscape in Mexico’s Chihuahua Desert after a 200 year absence.

Having acted as ecosystem anchors for the vegetation is this vital biosphere reserve for millennia, their return is seen as a major step towards fortifying the area’s sensitive arid grasslands.

A vast bison herd roaming the plains is one of the most iconic images of natural North America, but it slips the mind easily that these mighty beasts were just as comfortable in Mexico as the Great Plains.