Animal enclosure
Since March 2014, visitors can enjoy an area outside the Park than contains specimens of Przewalski horses, of prehistoric origin, and specimens of European bison thanks to an agreement signed between the Park, the Town Hall of Teverga, FAPAS and the Spanish Association for the Conservation of the European Bison.
This initiative, incorporating both these species in danger of extinction and which currently forming part of a recovery plan, seeks to protect and integrate these animals that lived thousands of years ago, since the world population of European Bison stands at 6000 individuals and the population of Przewalski´s horse stands at 1,500 individuals.
Since April 2016 the Park´s animal enclosure is also home to specimens of Auroch-derived Heck cattle or Neo-Aurochs. The aurochs, considered to be the wild ancestors of all the cows in the world, became extinct in the 17th century and the individuals in Teverga are a recreation developed in Europe in the 1930s.
Furthermore, deer and fallow deer have been introduced to the Park in March 2018. The deer, and possibly its predecessor, the giant deer, appears in Asturian cave art in the form of engravings and paintings. Fallow deer are a less frequent species in the Principality, since it was banished to the Mediterranean region after the Ice Age, the continent failing to recolonise naturally after it. It returned to Spain with the help of the Romans 2,000 years ago and it currently roams free in the Sierra del Sueve.
From February 2019 the Park also has tarpan horses. Becoming extinct at the beginning of the 19th century, the species that can be seen in the Teverga facilities is the result of crossing forest tarpans with the local Polish breed of domestic Konic horses.
This project enables visitors to observe the animals that our ancestors used to paint; it is the perfect complement to the guided tour of the park´s Gallery and Cave of Caves, the tour of the Bear Trail (Senda del Oso) and the local tourist attractions.
