20 Zlotys Żubr (Bison bonasus)

The European bison — nearly extinct by 1927, when the last wild individual was shot in Poland's Białowieża Forest — survived only through captive breeding programs drawing on fewer than 50 animals. The Polish state has maintained a particular institutional connection to the species ever since, and the Białowieża herd remains the anchor population for the entire European recovery effort.

This is the third NBP issue featuring the żubr, following 1999 and 2006 strikes in the same collector series tracking the ongoing recovery.