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Siberia is where Canadian bison will roam
Last Updated Fri, 31 Mar 2006 20:14:54 EST
CBC News
Thirty wood bison from Elk Island National Park in northern Alberta will soon be taking the trip of a lifetime – halfway around the world to northeastern Siberia.
The bison, shaggy beasts that weigh 907 kilograms or more, will be moving to northeastern Siberia on Tuesday, when they will become the nucleus of a new herd.
The wood bison is the largest native terrestrial mammal in North America. (W Lynch/ Parks Canada)
Wood bison are the second cousin of the more common plains bison. They are taller and less stocky than the plains bison, making them the largest terrestrial mammal in Canada.
Environment Canada said there used to be nearly 200,000 wood bison in Canada, in the northern prairies and Northwest Territories, but the number fell to only 200 in 1957 when biologists started to rebuild the herd.
Wood bison are listed as a threatened species in Canada. But in Siberia, they have been extinct for more than 5,000 years.
Russian officials have been eyeing the Canadian herd for more than 50 years, hoping to import a breeding pair. They finally approached Canadian officials and set the move in motion.
The first job was to find whether Canada had any wood bison to spare.
No problem, said Norman Cool, a wildlife biologist with the Elk Island park, which is east of Edmonton. The Canadian herd may be threatened but Canada's 4,000 animals have been breeding so well that Canada now breeds 60 excess bison every two years.
Canada is running out of suitable conservation areas to put the animals, and is more than willing to move some to Siberia where they will repopulate an area that used to be their ancestral home, he said.
"This is good that we could provide these animals to conservation projects," Cool told CBC News. "Right now in Canada, there's not a lot of conservation projects. We have saturated the local areas up north."
Cool is a fan of the Siberian project for another reason. The Russians plan to build the herd up to about 400 over the next 20 years, in case disease strikes Canada's bison population.
"What a great opportunity to provide some of our surplus stock for this project," Cool said.
Last Updated Fri, 31 Mar 2006 20:14:54 EST
CBC News
Thirty wood bison from Elk Island National Park in northern Alberta will soon be taking the trip of a lifetime – halfway around the world to northeastern Siberia.
The bison, shaggy beasts that weigh 907 kilograms or more, will be moving to northeastern Siberia on Tuesday, when they will become the nucleus of a new herd.
The wood bison is the largest native terrestrial mammal in North America. (W Lynch/ Parks Canada)
Wood bison are the second cousin of the more common plains bison. They are taller and less stocky than the plains bison, making them the largest terrestrial mammal in Canada.
Environment Canada said there used to be nearly 200,000 wood bison in Canada, in the northern prairies and Northwest Territories, but the number fell to only 200 in 1957 when biologists started to rebuild the herd.
Wood bison are listed as a threatened species in Canada. But in Siberia, they have been extinct for more than 5,000 years.
Russian officials have been eyeing the Canadian herd for more than 50 years, hoping to import a breeding pair. They finally approached Canadian officials and set the move in motion.
The first job was to find whether Canada had any wood bison to spare.
No problem, said Norman Cool, a wildlife biologist with the Elk Island park, which is east of Edmonton. The Canadian herd may be threatened but Canada's 4,000 animals have been breeding so well that Canada now breeds 60 excess bison every two years.
Canada is running out of suitable conservation areas to put the animals, and is more than willing to move some to Siberia where they will repopulate an area that used to be their ancestral home, he said.
"This is good that we could provide these animals to conservation projects," Cool told CBC News. "Right now in Canada, there's not a lot of conservation projects. We have saturated the local areas up north."
Cool is a fan of the Siberian project for another reason. The Russians plan to build the herd up to about 400 over the next 20 years, in case disease strikes Canada's bison population.
"What a great opportunity to provide some of our surplus stock for this project," Cool said.
