Buffalo in Banff National Park
Under the country’s National Conservation Plan, the government will spend $6.4 million over the next five years in an effort to bring back the creature to the area of Banff National park. The press release said they will bring back a small herd of plains buffalo to “restore ecological integrity and connect Canadians with nature.”
“Through this project, Parks Canada will provide Canadians with an opportunity to connect with this iconic species,” the press release, from Alberta MP Blake Richards, said.
“In addition, Parks Canada will invite First Nations to share traditional knowledge of plains bison and participate in stewardship, management and celebrations.”
The program will also “engage students and volunteers to participate in bison research, monitoring and stewardship activities.”
The park was established in 1885 and is the country’s first national park and the third in the world. Situated 110 km (68 mi) west of Calgary in the Rocky Mountains, it is 6,641 km (2,564 sq mi) in size. It receives millions of visitors from all over the world each year.
Terrain includes alpine landscapes, glaciers, vast ice-fields and coniferous forests. While buffalo no longer roam there – not for now – black and grizzlies bears do, along with big-horn sheep, cougars, elk, deers, lynx, mountain goats, otters, weasels, wolverines, wolves and many other animals.
Roaming North American plains
It is estimated at the time European settlers arrived n North America there were some 30 million buffalo roaming the plains of the continent. Millions were in Canada and their presence was once a major fixture of the area now known as Banff National Park.
The massive animals — they grow up to 6’5″ and can weigh a ton — were hunted by First Nations, who killed only what they needed for food and material to make items like clothing, blankets, containers for drinking (out of stomach lining), shovels and knives (from bones) and even medicine bags (from the bladder).
But after Europeans arrived disease and over-hunting began to decimate the buffalo and by the 1890s their numbers were down to as low as 2,000. Through conservation they have made a resurgence and now number about 400,000 in North America, though only about 20,000 are considered wild, the rest living in fenced in areas.
Canada is home to about 250,000 bison today.
