Image copyright Parks Canada via Reuters Image caption Bison returned to Banff last week after an absence of more than 100 years

A herd of plains bison have been successfully reintroduced to Canada's oldest national park, more than 100 years after they were nearly hunted out of existence.

The 16 bison were moved to the Banff National Park in Alberta last week.

On Monday officials said the transfer had gone smoothly and the animals were adapting well to their new home.

The move will restore their role in the park's ecosystem, officials say, and has been welcomed by indigenous groups.

The bison will be kept under observation in an enclosed pasture of the park in the foothills of the Rockies until the summer of 2018, Parks Canada officials say.

Image copyright Parks Canada via Reuters Image caption The animals were prized by aboriginal Canadians for the food and clothing they supply

Image copyright Parks Canada via Reuters Image caption If the phased release goes according to plan, the bison will be allowed further into the park next year

Image copyright Parks Canada via Reuters Image caption The bison have been arriving at Banff since the end of January

The animals were once the dominant grazers in the park, in addition to being spiritually significant to Canada's aboriginal groups, supplying them with food, clothing and shelter.

The herd will eventually be released into a far wider area of the park where they will be at liberty to interact with other native animals and search for food, The Calgary Herald reported.

It said the hope is that natural barriers and wildlife fencing will stop the bison from wandering astray.

BBC Nature - Bison facts

"By returning plains bison to Banff National Park, Parks Canada is taking an important step toward restoring the full diversity of species and natural processes to the park's ecosystems while providing new opportunities for Canadians and visitors to connect with the story of this iconic species," Canadian Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said.

At one time, there were as many as 30 million bison on the plains but they were hunted almost to extinction with only a handful remaining in government-controlled areas.</s>CALGARY, Alberta, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Parks Canada has reintroduced a herd of plains bison to the country's oldest national park in Banff, Alberta, officials said on Monday, more than 130 years after the iconic North American animal last grazed the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies.

The conservation team moved 16 bison from a protected herd in central Alberta into an enclosed pasture in Banff National Park in the west of the province last week.

The herd will stay under observation in the remote Panther Valley until summer 2018, when the animals will be released into the full 1,189-square-km (460-square-mile) reintroduction zone in the park's eastern valleys.

Parks Canada said bison were once dominant grazers and that bringing them back would restore their missing role in Banff's ecosystem.

"This would be one of only four plains bison herds in North America that would be fully interacting with their predators and shaping the ecosystem as they did over a hundred years ago," said Kasper Heuer, the bison reintroduction project manager.

Those predators will include wolves and bears native to the park.

Ten pregnant female bison and six young bulls were disease tested and radio collared before being herded into five shipping containers and driven 400 km (250 miles) cross Alberta by truck. The conservation team taped rubber hoses to their horns to prevent the animals injuring each other while in transit.

Since the Panther Valley is not accessible by road, officials attached the shipping containers by long line to a helicopter and flew them in one at a time for the last 25 km (16 miles).

Vast bison herds of up to 30 million animals once migrated freely across North America. The animal was nearly hunted to extinction, and rangers estimate bison have not grazed in Banff National Park since before it was established in 1885.

Bison have great spiritual meaning for North America's aboriginal groups, having once provided an important source of food, clothing and shelter. The reintroduction also coincides with the 150th anniversary of Canada's 1867 confederation into a federal union.

"This is a historic moment and a perfect way to mark Canada's 150," Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna said in a statement. "Not only are bison a keystone species and an icon of Canada's history, they are an integral part of the lives of indigenous peoples."</s>CALGARY, Alberta, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Rangers have successfully reintroduced a herd of plains bison to Canada's oldest national park, officials said on Monday, more than 130 years after the iconic North American animal last grazed the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies.

Parks Canada moved 16 bison from a protected herd in central Alberta into an enclosed pasture in Banff National Park in the west of the province last week.

The herd will stay under observation in an enclosure in the remote Panther Valley until summer 2018, when the animals will be released into the full 1,189 square kilometers (459 square miles) re-introduction zone in the park's eastern valleys.

Parks Canada said bison were once dominant grazers and a "keystone species," and bringing them back to Banff will restore their missing role in the ecosystem.

Bison also have great spiritual meaning for Canada's aboriginal groups, having once provided an important source of food, clothing and shelter.

The re-introduction coincides with the 150th anniversary of Canada's confederation.

"This is a historic moment and a perfect way to mark Canada's 150," Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna said in a statement. "Not only are bison a keystone species and an icon of Canada's history, they are an integral part of the lives of indigenous peoples."

Vast bison herds up to 30 million animals strong once migrated freely across the plains of North America, including the montane and sub-alpine meadows where the front ranges of the Rocky Mountains meet western Canada's rolling prairies.

The animal was nearly hunted to extinction by humans, and rangers estimate bison have not grazed in the valleys of Banff National Park since before the park was established in 1885. (Editing by Dan Grebler)</s>After more than 100 years, plains bison are once again roaming their historical range in Banff's Eastern Slopes.

Parks Canada has successfully relocated 16 bison from Elk Island National Park to the remote Panther Valley in Banff National Park.

For 16 months, the bison will remain in an enclosed pasture in the valley, monitored by Parks Canada. In summer 2018, the herd will be released to explore a 1,200-square-kilometre zone in the Red Deer and Cascade river valleys where they will be free to interact with other native species and forage for food. Natural barriers and stretches of wildlife fencing will hopefully discourage the bison from leaving the zone.

"By returning plains bison to Banff National Park, Parks Canada is taking an important step toward restoring the full diversity of species and natural processes to the park’s ecosystems while providing new opportunities for Canadians and visitors to connect with the story of this iconic species," said Catherine McKenna, federal minister of environment and climate change.

More than a century ago, bison grazed on the land that is now Banff National Park. Bringing them back to Banff restores a keystone species to the landscape and provides a cultural connection to First Nations who once hunted the animal. At one time, there were as many as 30 million bison on the plains but they nearly became extinct due to overhunting. The Canadian government bought one of the last surviving herds in the early 1900s and they were protected in a paddock at the base of Cascade Mountain for almost 100 years. They were removed in 1997.

This release is part of a five-year reintroduction plan that will evaluate whether it's feasible to manage a wild herd in the park over the long term. At the end of the term, Parks Canada will decide whether to maintain the project, expand it or end it.</s>A herd of plains bison has been reintroduced to Canada’s oldest national park, more than a century after the iconic North American animal roamed the Great Plains and eastern slopes of the Canadian Rocky Mountains.

The government agency Parks Canada, released 16 selected bison in the Banff National Park in central Alberta. The herd will be monitored in an enclosed pasture for about 16 months before being released into the 460-square-mile (about 1,200-square-km) reintroduction zone in the remote eastern slopes of the park.

Canada’s Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna said that bison were an icon of the country’s history, as well as integral part of the lives of indigenous peoples.

“By returning plains bison to Banff National Park, Parks Canada is taking an important step towards restoring the full diversity of species and natural processes to the park’s ecosystems while providing new opportunities for Canadians and visitors to connect with the story of this iconic species,” she said.

Environmental historian John Sandlos, of the Memorial University of Newfoundland, said plains bison were exterminated in Canada in the late 19th century, mostly to provide a supply of dried meat to fuel the fur trade.

Mr Sandlos said the current reintroduction of plains bison to Banff National Park was significant because it restored a keystone species that will maintain the ecological integrity of the park through interactions with other species.

While there have been other bison reintroductions in the Grasslands and Prince Albert National Parks, he said, this project “has the potential to create a large free-roaming herd of bison in southern Canada, a wildlife assemblage that has not existed in the region since the late 19th century.”

“In a broad sense, the reintroduction program is a small but significant step toward restoring a species that is ecologically extinct across most of its former range,” Mr Sandlos told The Independent.

Theodore Binnema, an environmental history professor at the University of Northern British Columbia, said that the reintroduction of the plains bison to Banff was a complicated issue.

Mr Binnema said the bison population during the pre-settlement era was actually relatively small, and that the herd has the potential to grow far larger that it would have been during that time.

“This could produce an ecosystem in the park very unlike it ever was in the past,” Mr Binnema said, bringing into question whether reintroducing the bison actually fulfils Parks Canada’s mandate to protect the ecological integrity of park spaces.</s>Bison have returned to a Canada national park after being hunted almost to extinction in the country nearly a century ago.

Sixteen bison were moved to Banff National Park in Alberta last week.

This is the oldest national park in the country.

Officials said on Monday that the move had gone well and the bison were getting used to their new home.</s>After more than a century, wild Plains bison are back in Banff National Park.

On Feb. 1, sixteen Plains bison were transferred from Elk Island National Park, east of Edmonton, to the Panther Valley in Banff National Park.

It’s the first phase of a five-year pilot project to reintroduce wild bison to Banff’s eastern slopes.

Parks Canada called the “historic homecoming” an “important celebration of the environment and culture of Canada’s first national park, and a momentous way to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Canada’s confederation.

“Our government is committed to preserving and expanding our national parks and protected areas and contributing to the recovery of iconic Canadian species,” said Catherine McKenna, minister of Environment and Climate Change.

“This is a historic moment and a perfect way to mark Canada’s 150,” McKenna said.

The government agency said the reintroduction is not only ecologically important, but has a “great spiritual meaning” for ndigenous peoples.

The herd will remain in an enclosed pasture for the next 16 months, so that the animals can calve twice and bond to their new home.

After that, the pasture gates will be opened, allowing the herd to explore the entire reintroduction zone.

For thousands of years, vast bison herds roamed the prairies and the eastern slopes of the Continental Divide, including the area that is now Banff National Park.</s>Wild bison have returned to Banff National Park after a 140-year absence.

Last week, Parks Canada successfully relocated 16 wild plains bison from Elk Island National Park to a 1,200 square-kilometre reintroduction zone in the Panther Valley at Windy Cabin, roughly 40 kilometres north of the Banff townsite.

“It's a great event to have a keystone species return to one of our nation's most iconic places,” said Banff National Park superintendent Dave McDonough at an official announcement in the town on Monday. “It's a perfect way to mark Canada's 150th anniversary of Confederation.

“I'm proud to say that history has come full circle and wild bison are once again in Banff National Park.”

More than a century ago, bison grazed on the land that is now Banff National Park. Bringing them back to the area restores a keystone species to the landscape and provides a cultural connection to First Nations who once hunted the animal. At one time, there were thought to be as many as 30-million bison on the plains but they nearly became extinct due to overhunting. The Canadian government bought one of the last surviving herds in the early 1900s and they were protected in a paddock at the base of Cascade Mountain for almost 100 years. They were removed in 1997 to facilitate wildlife movement around the town of Banff.

The $6.5-million five-year trial project is part of a Parks Canada-led conservation effort to restore the wild bison population to Banff. Reintroducing a breeding population of plains bison to Banff was introduced to Canadians in the 2010 Banff National Park Management Plan.

Karsten Heuer, the bison reintroduction project manager, said last week's successful translocation was emotional for him and his team.

“If it works, we are actually setting the seeds for just one of four plains bison populations in North America that are actually interacting with their environment,” he said. “That will be a first in over 140 years in Banff National Park, and that's really why we're doing this is to make them wild again.

“They've been absent from this landscape for too long and so I think today is the hooves on the ground beginning of trying to bring that back.”

Ten pregnant females and six young bulls were trucked in five modified 10-foot-long shipping containers from Elk Island to the Ya Ha Tinda Ranch on the eastern slopes of Banff in late January. They were then airlifted by heavy-lift helicopter to a soft-release paddock in the Panther Valley on Feb. 1, where they will be held for the next 16 months.

Parks Canada staff will monitor the herd and after two calving seasons they will be released freely into the surrounding reintroduction zone. The holding period is intended to allow the bison to anchor to the landscape.

“That really is the one thing we want to try and facilitate right now is for them to accept this as their new home,” said Heuer.

Parks Canada used innovative techniques while moving the bison, such as placing cylindrical rubber tubes over the animals' horns to ensure they did not hurt each other during the transfer phase.

“There were a few animals that didn't really settle down in those crates during the road trip and came out of the crates a little bruised up, and you could actually see where their crate mates had been ramming them with their horns as they had little cylindrical impressions on their furry coats. It would have been a lot worse damage if they didn't have those on,” Heuer said.

When the bison were released into their enclosure, Heuer said they galloped out of the shipping containers in a panic but were soon grazing, drinking water and getting comfortable in their adopted home.

“Within a few hours they were feeding, they were drinking out of the trough. The next morning a couple of the bulls were rubbing horns and bucking, which is a good sign that they were feeling calm and settled,” he said.

By the time they are released from the paddock in June 2018, the population of the herd is expected to have roughly doubled in size.

Over the next five years, the health of the herd, as well as their movements, survival and reproductive rates, how well they adapt to the environment and predation will be monitored to determine whether the trial project is successful.

Heuer said that it's hard to predict how predation will impact the bison once they are released, stating it took wolves in Yellowstone National Park two years to start using bison as a food source, whereas in Yukon it took wolves 20 years before they keyed in on bison.

“We do have wolves in the landscape. We actually have one pack already being monitored with a radio collar in the heart of the reintroduction zone, and it's one of the many things that we'll be keeping track of in the initial five years of the project,” he said, adding that bears could also potentially prey on calves. “Bison are also pretty formidable animals and will probably put up more of a defensive effort against potential predators than elk.”

Bison are known as “ecosystem engineers” due to their importance in strengthening the long-term health of ecosystems.

The meadow habitats in which they reside prevent the encroachment of trees and are important to grassland species of birds, while bison also support insect life, amphibians and certain species of grasses.

Predators and scavengers also benefit from the presence of bison on the landscape.

Parks Canada will evaluate the project in five years with stakeholders and a First Nations advisory circle and examine whether the project is successful. If it is deemed the project is not working, the herd will be removed and the fencing will be pulled from the landscape.

The bison have been fitted with radio collars and will be monitored during the free-roaming phase. Short stretches of wildlife-friendly fencing and hazing will encourage the herd to remain in the reintroduction zone.

Backcountry travellers are able to access the remote reintroduction zone by a two-day hike, ski or horseback trip, but require a backcountry camping permit to do so.

Bill Hunt, resource conservation manager with Banff National Park, said messaging will be given to visitors on how to interact with bison in the 16 months leading up to their release from the paddock.

“They rut in the middle of the summer, so we want to make sure that people understand that it's not like elk who rut in the fall,” he said. “When they calve and when they rut are often when ungulates are more dangerous, and so we'll be getting those messages out, just as we do for grizzly bears or cougars or wolves — making sure people know how to interact with them safely.”

Hunt added Parks has the opportunity to reach visitors directly who attempt to obtain a backcountry camping permit.

Harvey Locke, a long-time Banff resident who has been working on bison reintroduction for 20 years, says that Canadians are seeing the restoration of an animal which was close to being entirely wiped out.

“Today, we're bringing it back to the natural world to function as a part of it, in our oldest and most famous national park, which was hugely involved in saving the animal from extinction in the first place,” he said. “Now there will be wild buffalo again in the park. It's very exiciting.”

The public is invited to a bison homecoming celebration on March 3, which will be held at the Cave and Basin National Historic Site.</s>They’ve been absent from the ecosystem of Banff National Park for over a century, but officials now say that a group of plains bison have been returned to the area.

On February 1, 16 bison were translocated from Elk Island National Park east of Edmonton to the Panther Valley in Banff National Park.

They say the event is important not only from an ecological standpoint, but from a spiritual one as well as Canada’s First Nations share a special connection with the animals and the park.

Parks Canada says that by re-establishing a new wild population to the park, they will be providing an important contribution to national and international bison conservation efforts.

Over the next 16 months, the bison will remain an enclosed pasture in the Panther Valley.

By summer 2018, the herd will be released to explore the full relocation zone in the remote eastern slopes.

There, they will interact with other species, forage for food and take assume their role in the ecosystem.</s>BANFF — In a historic move, the federal government has provided $6.4 million over the next five years to bring bison back to Banff National Park.

The funding for the controversial plan, which has been in the works for years, was announced Friday at the Banff Park Museum by Blake Richards, MP for the Wild Rose riding.

“Today, with only a few small herds of wild free-roaming bison, the future of these iconic animals of Canada is threatened,” said Richards, noting the federal government is committed to protecting natural and cultural heritage.

The $6.4 million will help reintroduce 30 to 50 plains bison to an historic range in Banff National Park, where they would first be kept in a paddock in the backcountry by January 2017.

They would then be released into a 425-square kilometer area — about half the size of Calgary — on the eastern edge of the park later that spring.

The plan, which has been controversial among nearby landowners, was praised by First Nations and conservation groups in attendance at Friday’s announcement.

“It’s a dream come true for us,” said Leroy Little Bear, a member of the southern Alberta Blood Tribe.

Sykes Powderface, an elder at the Stoney Nakoda Nation, agreed it’s a great move for Banff National Park.

“It’s that relationship, that connection to nature,” he said. “It’s a big part of our culture.”

Conservationists also applauded the move as a piece of good news from the federal government.

“It’s great to see the national park restoring something that’s been missing from the ecosystem,” said Wendy Francis, acting president of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative. “We definitely want to see all of the biodiversity that belongs in the system back in the system.

“It’s great to see that being done here in Banff National Park.”

Harvey Locke, a conservationist and board member with the Eleanor Luxton Historical Foundation, called it a “great day in the history of Banff National Park.”

The return of bison will affect the ecology of the park in a positive way, he said.

“We’re righting a historic wrong from the 19th century when we almost wiped bison off the face of the earth,” he said. “Banff park has been involved from the very beginning has been involved with the conservation of bison, keeping them alive as a species.

“When you bring them back on the landscape as a wild species, it becomes an ecological process and that’s what matters.”

There are, however, still some concerns among area landowners, ranchers, and fish and game associations in the province.

“The proponents of bison introduction set forth a series of statements indicating unreasonably optimistic outcomes regarding the benefits, ignoring the costs and inherent danger,” said a statement issued by the Alberta Fish and Game Association, which they suggested is shared by other groups.

Officials with Banff National Park said they will take the reintroduction of bison slowly.

“In the first two years, we will be testing the fences to ensure they are permeable to other wildlife,” said Dave McDonough, superintendent of Banff National Park.

The third year will see the installation of a temporary paddock in the Panther-Dormer River area, where prescribed fires will be used to ensure there is high quality habitat for bison.

They will bring 30 to 50 young bison from Elk Island National Park, where there have been no concerns about disease and the herd is genetically diverse.

“We’re starting with a really small herd … in a really precautionary pilot project,” said David Gummer, acting resource conservation manager with Banff National Park.

They are expected to arrive around January 2017 and be temporarily kept in a paddock for four months, before being released in the spring into the 425-square kilometer area in the east-central portion of the park.

Gummer said they will put in about 21 kilometers of wire fencing to discourage the bison from getting on to provincial lands or transportation corridors.

“We’re going to try to maintain as attractive as possible habitat for the bison,” he said, noting they have several tools at their disposal — including feeding them or hazing them — to keep the bison from leaving the park.

They will also be electronically monitored with GPS collars.
A herd of Plains bison are successfully reintroduced to the Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada, more than 100 years after they were nearly hunted out of existence.