About 16 wild bison were reintroduced last week to Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada's oldest national park, after more than a century of poaching and hunting that almost drove them to extinction. Park officials considered the initiative successful as the animals are adapting well to their new environment.
The bison were placed in a remote area of the national park until Rangers can further observe them if they are ready to be integrated into the major plains of the reserve and interact with other animals. A year of study and monitoring will be done until they will be moved again by the summer of 2018 to the wider areas of the park.
These first months will see how the bison act and protect themselves from predators like bears and wolves. Their health is carefully examined if the animals experience any signs of stress especially when they were just loaded inside shipping containers at Elk Island National Park.
Many authorities and officials see the reintroduction of the bison as a historical mark that significantly placed Canada in the maps. Banff National Park superintendent Dave McDonough told the Lonely Planet, "It's a great event to have a keystone species return to one of our nation's most iconic places. It's a perfect way to mark Canada's 150th anniversary of Confederation."
A hundred years ago, as many as 30 million bison roam the park until they were no more than a hundred left by the early 1900s. The Canadian Government bought the bison in a secluded paddock at the base of Cascade Mountain until they were removed in 1997.
The bison were greatly hunted by the locals for their meat and fur. A more protective program to preserve the animals would help them populate the land once more.
Tourists can visit Banff National Park and see the bison in their natural habitat, but the park must require a backcountry camping permit for them to enter. The bison transferred to the park were ten pregnant bulls and six young calves.
