The European bison is a living treasure for Russia but hunting and the destruction of forests killed all the wild herds leaving only a few surviving animals in captivity.<br /><br />Breeding farms like the Priokso-Terrasny Reserve south of Moscow, offer families a chance to enjoy the ancient species -- whose ancestors roamed alongside the woolly mammoth.<br /><br />But with so few left their genetic pool has been weakened through inbreeding and are at risk of disease. <br /><br />Al Jazeera's Robin Forestier-Walker reports on the Priokso-Terrasny Reserve, Russia.
