Wood Bison, North America’s Largest Animal, to Be Reintroduced Into Alaska

Photo Credit: Alan and Elaine Wilson via Wikimedia CommonsWood bison, the largest animal in the Americas, once roamed throughout present-day Alaska and western Canada. But unregulated hunting in the 1800s nearly wiped them out, and by the middle of the 20th century some thought the animals were extinct. But then, in 1957, a small herd was found in a remote part of Alberta by the crew of a plane flying overhead.

Since then, their numbers have rebounded to around 11,000 in Canada, as governmental organizations have helped breed and repatriate them to a few parts of their former range. But they have never been released back in the Alaskan wilds, where they once provided food, clothing and shelter for indigenous peoples for thousands of years.

But that’s about to change. In March 2015, officials will release 50 to 100 wood bison to the wild in western Alaska, said Doug Vincent-Lang, with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Currently, staff at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center outside Anchorage are facilitating the breeding of the bison, says operations director Tom Yeager.

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