Species of BC - Wood Bison

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Becasuse of over hunting and a variety of other factors the Wood Bison has been protected by different legislations for the past 120 years. The first legistion occured in 1877, which acknowledged that the Wood Bison were threatened of becomming extinct. In 1964 the Wood Bison was declared a "protected species." Becasuse of this, the Wood Bison populations began to increase, and by 1988 they had reached a high enough number that they were downlisted to threatened.

In 1922 Canada created Wood Buffalo National Park. This National park was designed to help protect the dwindling Wood Bison population, as well as their habitat. Today, this park is one of the largest in Canada and the world, encompasing 44,807 square kilometers (the same size as Switzerland). Click on the map to see a interactive map.

The map above illustrates the present and historic range of the Wood and Plains bision. The light grey portion of the map shows the extent of the Wood Bison's habitat before 1865. At this time it reached as far north as Northern Alaska, but overhunting caused its habitat to drastically shrink. The extent of the Wood Bison's shrinking habitat is illustrated through the light gray coloration on the map, which shows the present extent of the bison's habitat. This area includes North-Eastern Britsh Columbia, Northtern Alberta, and Southern parts of the North-West Territories. Click on the map to see a interactive map.

QuickTime

Here is a quick movie that shows Wood bison in their natural habitat. Notice that they are are grazing in a small herd. Family's such as the one were created in 1996, when biologists gathered 1,800 free-ranging Wood Bison and placed them in 7 disease free herds. Recovery activities such as this have been continually negotiated between government and concervation agencies.

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