Rewilding Canada Blog

Species Profile: The Canadian Wood Bison

Hey everybody, I know that I haven't posted in a while. The truth is that I've had some trouble coming up with new ideas, or finding the time to write the articles that deserve more attention and research than I can give right now. As a consolation, I've decided to write one or two short articles on native Canadian megafauna and how they can be used in rewilding projects both here and in other parts of the world. First, I'm going to be discussing the Canadian wood bison, Bison bison athabascae.

The wood bison is one of two subspecies of North American bison, the other being the southern plains bison, Bison bison bison, from the prairies of southern Canada, the United States, and formerly northern Mexico. The wood bison's original range included Alaska (USA) as well as the Yukon, western Northwest Territories, northeastern British Columbia, northern Alberta, and northwestern Saskatchewan. However, until 1957, it was thought that the wood bison was extinct, until a small herd of approximately two hundred was found living on the northern end of what is now Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Alberta. There are now roughly seven thousand living wild in various areas of their former Canadian range.

Compared to its southern relatives, the wood bison is heavier, darker, and has a bigger and more forward hump, larger horns, less fur on the beard and legs, and higher cold tolerance. At over a thousand kilograms it is currently the largest mammal native to North America.

Bison have always been of particular interest in rewilding programs in North America, as well as in Eurasia. Their previous status as an extremely populous and effective ecosystem engineer makes them a priority introduction in steppes, prairies, and other grassland ecosystems across the northern hemisphere. For my country's part I am proud to say that we have many bison of both subspecies living inside and outside of our many parks. Recently, we finally had our very anticipated release of bison into Banff National Park in southwestern Alberta. This is a big step in restoring bison as an integral part of our ecosystems. Because bison are megafauna, they can have a significant, noticeable effect on the ecosystems in which they are present. These effects include trampling, fertilizing, removing trees, grazing, snow excavation, and being prey for large carnivores. When bison are removed from an ecosystem, that ecosystem is drastically altered.

What is interesting about wood bison is that there are currently two out-herds existing outside of Canada. One of these was recently established in western Alaska, and consists of more than a hundred animals. More interestingly, a herd of over one hundred breeding wood bison has been forming in central Yakutia, in Russia. Now, wood bison themselves were never native to northeastern Russia, but their ancestral, ecologically similar relative the steppe bison (Bison priscus) was found there until it was hunted to extinction approximately six thousand years ago. Russia has expressed an interest in increasing its biodiversity with wood bison, native feral horses, various species of deer, saiga, boar, and other large mammals such as muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus, also imported from Canada, we'll discuss that in a later article).

The Old World, it would seem, is much more interested and adventurous with Pleistocene rewilding projects than we in the New World are. The Russians, as well as certain areas of Europe, are beginning the processes of forming more of these so-called Pleistocene Parks, filled with native animals and proxies for extinct ones. I strongly believe that we should follow suit, and that further collaboration with Russia, as well as other countries like Mongolia, will allow us to do that. We have contributed bison and muskoxen, perhaps one day we might ask for something in return for our more northern ecosystems. I would like to see herds of Russian saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica tatarica) or maybe Yakutian ponies (Equus ferus caballus) in the Yukon for instance, running alongside our bison, reindeer, muskoxen, and elk.

Our large herds of wood bison, and our willingness to send them elsewhere, are a very good start. I hope that the Alaskan and Yakutian herds are very successful and can be used to establish more herds. The entirety of western Russia is potential wood bison habitat, and it's possible that our plains bison could establish out-herds in places like Mongolia or Kazakhstan if it is decided they would be preferable to wisents. Such a donation might allow us access to wild camels, horses, or onagers. In conclusion, we are very fortunate to have these beautiful and important creatures in numbers sufficient to make these kinds of decisions possible.