‘A Yellowstone for Europe’: Romania’s ambition for a vast new wilderness reserve

A cabin in the Făgăraș mountains, part of the Transylvanian Alps (Southern Carpathians). Photograph: Jack Wolfskin

Up on the hill we spy them: dark, imposing forms moving through the dense forest. It’s a group of bison wandering wild in Romania’s Făgăraș mountains. I stand silently with my guide Răzvan Dumitrache as the animals graze.