JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: For the people of Russia, the country's economic woes have been a struggle. But CNN's Steve Harrigan says those same troubles are good for the bison, which are making a comeback.</s>STEVE HARRIGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a park ranger who shot the last bison in Russia 75 years ago out of hunger. These park rangers are trying to keep a new herd alive, a gift from the zoos of Europe.</s>VLADIMIR KAZMIN, DEP. DIR., ORYOL NATIONAL PARK (through translator): Only Russia has the vastness to do this -- large tracts of wild land where there is no agriculture or timber industry.</s>HARRIGAN: The opportunity is the result of an economic collapse in the Russian countryside, which has caused entire villages to disappear. (on camera): Three hundred families used to live here in a village called Green Lake. Now it's a ghost town that's gone back to the bison. (voice-over): Two hundred thousand acres in central Russia have been declared a national park, but there are few, if any, tourists. Finding the bison is not easy. Jeeps give way to a tractor, then horseback and on foot, until a brown form is spotted in the distance. The herd is not far behind. (on camera): Bisons are a matriarchy. That means a woman's in charge. This female here is the one who decides how close to let humans get to the herd. (voice-over): Not close at all.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): When the leader gives a signal, they immediately pack into a triangle and leave. They're disciplined, like an army.</s>HARRIGAN: That army now stands at 58 strong. The Russians plan to grow the herd to 1,000 over the next 30 years. Steve Harrigan, CNN, Oryol, central Russia.
Bison Making a Comeback in Central Russia