Bison Show Farm in Pszczyna

A few hundred metres from the Pszczyna market square and castle, on the Wild Promenade of the Pszczyna Historic Park, operates the Bison Show Farm — a place where the history of saving Europe’s largest land mammal can be observed from a few steps away.

A pedigree 150 years long

Bison have lived in the Pszczyna forests for over 150 years. The first animals were brought here from the Białowieża Forest by Prince Jan Henryk XI Hochberg — in exchange, Tsar Alexander II received 20 Pszczyna deer for a bull and three cows. Bison hunts were then an attraction of European courts, and the Pszczyna breeding stock proved strong enough that after the First World War its animals helped rebuild the Białowieża population. To this day Pszczyna bison supply Polish and foreign breeding centres; more than 40 live in the area.

What you will see

The farm consists of two complexes with a total area of about 10 ha, with feeding racks and a quarantine. Beside the bison family live red deer, roe deer, fallow deer and mouflons, and by the ponds — peacocks, swans, geese and ducks. In the educational building await exhibitions on the animals of Polish forests, a 3D show about bison and a reconstructed forester’s room. When planning your visit, look out for the feeding shows: from April to October daily at 10 am, 12 noon, 2 pm and 4 pm.

In practice

Tickets cost PLN 24 (regular), PLN 19 (concession) and PLN 68 (family); children under 4 enter free, and the Large Family Card entitles you to a discount. Hours change seasonally: in winter 9:00 am–4:00 pm, in summer 9:00 am–7:00 pm. A free car park lies a few hundred metres before the entrance, and the area is pram-accessible. 6.6 km away, in Jankowice, operates a free bison enclosure with a path around the paddock (about a 30-minute walk).