In the upper reaches of the river Malaya Laba , Уруштен and Kish , originating on the territory of the reserve , about 80 years ago met Caucasian bison or домбаи as their называле the local population . They belonged to the mountain feat bison , differing from his Bialowieza congener, curly hair , a characteristic curved horns and more easy addition . Once домбаи lived in the forests from Caucasus to Northern Iran , but by the middle of the 19th century have been preserved only about 2000 along the left tributaries of the Kuban . The number of bison in the Caucasus has steadily declined due to the reduction in suitable habitats and direct extermination of people. After the first world war was no more than 500 bison . In the summer of 1927, was exactly set the fact of poaching shepherds last bison, Alous. Repeatedly предпренимавшиеся subsequently search for these animals in the most remote and inaccessible areas were not successful . So mountain feat bison disappeared from the face of the earth . Created by this time the Caucasian bison reserve replenishment of the loss has been fundamental , however, started to restore bison he was only able to 13 years . In our country, in the period of only one bison and the unreality of receipt of manufacturers from abroad made possible breeding only hybrid animals . The first in the USSR selection of bison started in 1921 B.K. Fortunatov in Askaniya-Nova . It is from there and were taken 5 зубробизонов , which were brought in the summer of 1940, in the Caucasian reserve . Here, it was planned to recreate the mountain shape of the bison . This unique program has spent many years in S. Kalugin. He headed the work on selection and translation of mountain bison on free grazing. Until the 60's they were crossed with беловежско-Caucasian bison , preserved in some zoos of the world.
At the present time from the Caucasian bison reserve settled in almost all the reserves of the North Caucasus - Teberdinsky , North Ossetia.