Nores, CarlosÁlvarez Laó, DiegoNavarro, AlbertoPérez Barbería, Francisco JavierCastaños, Pedro MaríaCastaños de la Fuente, JoneMorales Muñiz, ArturoAzorit, ConcepciónMuñoz Cobo, JoaquínFernández Delgado, CarlosAlmodóvar Pérez, Ana MaríaElvira Payán, BenignoLópez Bao, José Vicente2025-02-202025-02-202024-11-20Nores, C., Álvarez-Laó, D., Navarro, A., Pérez-Barbería, F. J., Castaños, P. M., Castaños de la Fuente, J., Morales Muñiz, A., Azorit, C., Muñoz-Cobo, J., Fernández Delgado, C., Granado Lorencio, C., Palmqvist, P., Soriguer, R., Delibes, M., Vilà, M., Simón, M., Cabezudo, B., Galán, C., García-Berthou, E., et al. (2024). Rewilding through inappropriate species introduction: The case of European bison in Spain. Conservation Science and Practice, 6(12). https://doi.org/10.1111/CSP2.132212578-485410.1111/csp2.13221https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/118246JVL-B were supported by a GRUPIN grant IDI/2021/000075 (Asturias Government), Complementary Plans (PCB1005_AST) and Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (TED2021-132519B-I00 and PID2023-149634OB-I00). FJP-B was also supported by Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (TED2021-131388B-I00 and PID2023-146074OB-I00) and Complementary Biodiversity Programme Asturias.Most European rewilding initiatives are based on the recovery of large herbivores, particularly European bison Bison bonasus, aiming at restoring ecosystem processes and increase trophic complexity. The growing support for the release of bison as a wild species, and change its legal status, in Spain, as an ecological analogue of the extinct steppe bison Bison priscus, makes it an excellent example to reflect the limits of a rewilding biogeographically advisable. We discuss if this initiative could be justified from ecological, biogeographical, ethical, and legal reasons. Besides remarkable taxonomic and functional differences between both bison species, the Mediterranean environment, under the present and future climatic scenarios, does not suit the European bison. Furthermore, there is no evidence to support the presumption that the European bison was ever present in the Iberian Peninsula, with legal implications. We expect that our approach will be inspirational for similar assessments on rewilding initiatives globally.engAttribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/journal articlehttps://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.13221https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/csp2.13221open access599.73 (460)591.524BisonEcological restorationMediterraneanRewildingSpecies introductionZoologíaEcología (Biología)Mamíferos2401 Biología Animal (Zoología)2401.06 Ecología Animal2401.18 Mamíferos