The Pro Cuatro Ciénegas Foundation, the Mexican Fund for Nature Conservation, the Cuenca Los Ojos civil association, and the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas successfully released 38 female and 6 male American bison from the state of Chihuahua into the El Santuario reserve in Coahuila.
“Coniyanei made a deal. He said: you, Iyané, your bison, will be food for the people. And the bison replied: yes, I will be food on one condition: all of me must be used; if I am wasted, I will disappear.” Juan Luis Longoria, leader of the N’dé Nation and director of culture for the Pro Cuatro Ciénegas Foundation
For the N’dé Nation, the indigenous people of this region, the return of the Iyané (bison), a fundamental element in their worldview, has an undeniable spiritual component: honoring the age-old relationship that sustains the balance of their territory.
“We must seek balance. There was an imbalance here, and we are restoring it. We must also find it in our lives, because remember, we do not exist alone; we are all N’danaji.”
This is the third conservation herd to be established in Mexico, and its reintroduction aims to restore ecosystem functions that no other species can perform.
Source: unotv
