History
Bison History
| Date | Event |
| April 2008 | Aboriginals discover two kill sites in Caribou Mountain Wildland Provincial Park. It appears the animals were killed as trophies, as the heads and hides had been removed, but the meat was left to rot. |
| July 4, 2007 | Two men are fined a total of $17,000 in provincial court in relation to the poaching of a bison calf in the Hay-Zama area. |
| 2004 | Since 1971, disease free populations have increased 1000% to 4800 animals, while the originally re-introduced herd in Wood Buffalo National Park has declined 80% to 2900. |
| 2003 | The government amends the Public Lands Act to allow commercial bison grazing on public lands. |
| 2001 | Alberta Government lists bison as
'At risk' by the Fish and Wildlife Division and are legally designated as
'Endangered' by the Wildlife Act.
The Heart Lake Band in east-central Alberta receives 53 bison from Elk Island National Park to begin the restoration of ecological and cultural processes associated with bison. The government holds multistakeholder meetings with several groups to determine whether commercial bison should be allowed to graze on public lands. |
| 2000 | COSEWIC re-assess the status of
wood bison and maintains the 'Threatened' status.
Alberta government launches an initiative to increase commercial production of bison in the northwest of the province. Bison farms are increasing at a rate of 15% a year with commercial populations increasing at a rate of 25% a year. Present commercial population is over 20,000 bison. |
| 1995 | Alberta establishes the Bison Management Area in a buffer around the Hay-Zama complex. Bison in this area are protected from hunting. |
| 1981-1990's | Hay-Zama herd established to create a disease-free, free-ranging population in Alberta in conjunction with the Dene Tha' First Nation. Herd has expanded from 29 to 49 by 1993 and over 200 by 2001. |
| 1982 | Lyle Fullerton writes (Western Canada Outdoors, Sept.-Oct. 1982): "Alberta presently has numerous bison farms, utilizing animals for the production of meat. Some of these ventures have realized "paid fee hunting" as another source of income. I guess if you have $3500 - $5000 laying around, you can enjoy a quiet "hunt" of a domestic animal in the seclusion of electrically confined enclosures....The decision was made some time ago that now that we have bison farms and these animals just don't like to have a fence come between themselves and other farmers crops, they should be taken out of the Wildlife Act and be called domestic animals. The depredation budget operated by the Fish and Wildlife Branch no longer takes a beating when these animals get loose. had the decision been made to have the owners entirely responsible for his animals actions in the first place, the bison would not have been degraded to the level of a hereford beast. Will the same thing happen to elk, moose or deer, what next? Who will now take over registration and administration of the Boone and Crockett records in Western Canada? The department of agriculture? Hereford cattle may make it into the record book yet!" |
| 1980's | Farming, including commercial bison operations, expand throughout Alberta and to within 70km of Wood Buffalo National Park. |
| 1965 | 21 bison from Wood Buffalo National Park are moved to Elk Island National Park and, after some disease management, the herd continues to grow successfully. |
| 1963 | 18 bison of the newly discovered herd are shipped to the western end of Great Slave Lake where a bison sanctuary is established. Herd expands successfully over subsequent years and becomes the largest free-roaming herd of wood bison in North America to the present day. |
| 1959 | An isolated, hence disease free and genetically local, population of wood buffalo are found in a remote area of Wood Buffalo National Park. |
| 1934 | Wood Buffalo National Park herd approximately 12,000. Diseases and genetic dilution of local stock are causing concern among conservationists. |
| 1925-1928 | 6673 Bison transferred from Buffalo Park to Wood Buffalo National Park. Immediately 400 bison break away from larger herd and migrate to the Sweetgrass area. The park is expanded to encompass this area. Introduced bison outnumber remnant population 4:1. |
| 1906 | Canadian government buys 709 bison from a Montana rancher and ships them to Elk Island National Park and eventually to Buffalo Park near Wainwright Alberta. |
| 1891 | Wood bison population reduced to a remnant herd of 250 near Great Slave Lake. |
| 1889 | Estimated plains bison population less than 1,200 in all of north America |
| 1800-1870's | Massive declines in bison numbers and range. Causes are clear, including intentional extermination by the US Government, over hunting and human settlement. |
| mid-17th century | Estimates of 2-60 million bison exist throughout North America. In addition, an estimated 168 000 wood bison range from the present northern Alberta, north-eastern British Columbia, southern Yukon, the interior of Alaska and the south-western Northwest Territories. |
