Our collection of visuals takes you behind-the-scenes to Banff’s bison country. Experience life in the field as we bring you video footage, photo galleries and interactive maps from key moments in the reintroduction journey.
Banff Bison: Free and Thriving
Wild bison return to Banff
Transcript
:10
My name is Karsten Heuer and I am the bison reintroduction project manager for Banff National Park.
0:18
My job is to orchestrate all the moving parts of trying to get bison from Elk Island National Park into Banff National Park.
0:28
Parks Canada's primary mandate is to ensure what we call ecological integrity, which means the health of the ecosystem.
0:35
And because something has been missing, North America's largest land mammal, part of our job is to try to bring it back.
0:42
And that’s what this is all about. It's about that effort.
0:47
From about noon today until about hopefully about noon tomorrow, so a 24 hour period
0:52
we are actually going to be doing an operation that has a lot different moving parts.
0:57
The first part is bringing the animals through the Elk Island corral system and chute system
1:03
give them a tranquilizer, and then do some last minute changes to ear tagging.
1:08
And then we will start to load them in groups of three and four through the chute system
1:12
up the loading ramp, into the containers that we've modified
1:16
They're basically seacans or shipping containers with ventilation in them and a few additions to the doors.
1:22
And then, we'll truck them for 400 km. That will then take us to the end of the gravel road, Ya Ha Tinda Ranch.
1:30
And then we will actually bring in a helicopter in tomorrow, a heavy lift helicopter
1:33
that's coming from the coast and that will pluck each individual crate off the flat-bed trucks.
1:39
One by one, over the ridge, about 20 km into the heart of the reintroduction zone.
1:44
Where we have a pasture fenced.
1:47
Where we are going to hold them for the next 16 months, feed them, support them
1:52
allow them to calve safely twice, and then do the release after they have anchored to that landscape.
1:58
And have adopted it as their new home.
2:13
There's been so much research, there's been so much consultation, like literally years.
2:18
We've got everything in place that we could have possibly thought of.
2:22
And really, from here on in, it's going to be up to the animals.
2:34
You know, we are talking about giving a species a second chance.
2:38
The seed that we are planting today, you can't almost imagine what it might lead to in 50 or 100 years.
Banff National Park - bison calf historic first steps
Canada’s Bison: Restoring a Legacy
Transcript
0:11
The sound of galloping bison was once like thunder
0:14
in the distance on the North American plains.
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For thousands of years the bison roamed the ranges
0:20
from Alaska and Canada's Prairie provinces
0:23
to the grasslands of northern Mexico.
0:27
Bison, sometimes known as Buffalo,
0:30
are North America's largest land mammal.
0:33
A bison bull can weigh over 900 kilograms,
0:36
measure close to 4 metres in length,
0:38
jump almost 2 metres high,
0:40
and run over 40 kilometres per hour.
0:44
Canada is home to two types - the plains bison
0:48
and its lesser-known and larger cousin, the wood bison.
0:52
Bison are an iconic species -
0:55
historically, culturally, and ecologically.
0:59
Free-ranging bison were a driving force
1:01
in the continent's grassland ecosystems -
1:03
creating a mosaic of habitats
1:05
and a food source for predators and scavengers.
1:09
For North America's indigenous peoples,
1:11
who had lived with the bison for thousands of years,
1:14
this animal was fundamental to their physical,
1:17
spiritual, and cultural lives.
1:20
Leroy Littlebear, an Elder with the Blood Tribe of Alberta,
1:23
once said that despite the decline in numbers,
1:26
the spirit of the Buffalo never left their lands
1:29
and the transfer of animals from Elk Island
1:31
back to the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana
1:34
was the realization of a dream.
1:37
He said, "It is a good day for the Buffalo;
1:40
it is a good day for us,
1:42
and it is a good day for Blackfoot Territory."
1:46
Parks Canada recognizes that strong relationships
1:49
and reconciliation with Indigenous partners
1:52
are essential to Parks Canada's mandate
1:55
and it is facilitating reconciliation by helping
1:58
to reconnect Indigenous people with the bison.
2:01
Parks Canada works with over 300 indigenous communities
2:04
across the country.
2:06
The reason it's so important is that they have
2:09
thousands of years of stewardship on these lands
2:12
and Parks Canada is only a hundred years old!
2:15
So being able to work with people who have
2:18
that kind of knowledge is extremely important for us.
2:21
The science-based approach is also extremely important.
2:24
So when you look at both of them together,
2:26
you can come to a good way of managing an area.
2:30
In the early 1800s,
2:32
herds of up to 100,000 plains bison were not uncommon
2:37
and a staggering 30 million dominated the land.
2:41
Despite these vast numbers,
2:43
their population came perilously close to extinction,
2:46
numbering less than 1,000 by the end of the century.
2:50
This dramatic decline was the result of many causes
2:53
including market hunting, loss of habitat,
2:56
and unenforced early conservation measures.
3:00
With bison on the brink of extinction,
3:02
the Canadian government recognized the need to restore
3:05
these animals and bought one of the last remaining herds
3:08
from several Indigenous ranchers in Montana.
3:11
During transportation a small herd was left
3:14
at Elk Island National Park, where they thrived.
3:22
Elk Island has a long history as the epicentre
3:25
of world bison conservation, providing seed stock
3:28
for new herds and an emerging bison ranching industry.
3:33
Over 1,800 genetically pure and disease-free Plains bison
3:37
have been relocated across North America,
3:39
including many to other national parks where they flourish today.
3:45
Parks Canada's journey to help restore Plains bison
3:48
has had its challenges along the way
3:50
from which many lessons have been learned.
3:54
Through these types of recovery efforts,
3:56
Parks Canada is viewed as an international leader
3:58
in nature conservation.
4:01
For example,
4:03
the International Union for the Conservation of Nature
4:05
adopted Parks Canada's guidelines
4:07
for ecological restoration as their global standard.
4:11
We employ what we call the "three E's approach" -
4:14
Effective, Efficient and Engaging.
4:17
It's effective in terms of using the best available scientific
4:21
and traditional knowledge in determining overall goals.
4:25
It's efficient to ensure that we maximize the outcomes
4:29
by using resources wisely.
4:32
And perhaps even most importantly, it's engaging.
4:34
We need to engage the local community, our partners -
4:38
such as our First Nations partners,
4:40
in the ecological restoration process.
4:43
Engaging Canadians in authentic national park experiences
4:47
is a cornerstone of Parks Canada's mandate
4:50
and bison are one emblem of that experience.
4:53
Plans are underway to re-introduce plains bison
4:57
in Banff National Park in 2017,
5:00
contributing both to the breadth of Banff's visitor experience
5:03
and the ecological integrity of the park.
5:07
Parks Canada, by developing internationally recognized
5:11
principles and guidelines, as well as best practices
5:15
for species recovery, will certainly be able to contribute
5:19
to the global effort that other countries can adopt
5:23
or adapt in their own programs, in terms of species recovery.
5:27
Parks Canada's efforts are a model for the world -
5:30
providing conservation leadership, collaborating
5:33
and reconciling with Indigenous partners,
5:36
and presenting Canadians with opportunities to engage
5:39
with our natural and cultural treasures.
5:42
While bison conservation work is on-going,
5:45
Canadians can be proud of what we have already achieved.
5:49
This story is an extraordinary example of how National Parks
5:53
have played an important role in bringing back a species
5:56
from the edge of extinction to become an important legacy
6:00
for generations to come.
Banff National Park