The Missing Megafauna: A Story of the American Bison
June 20, 2024
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There’s one thing that’s been missing from Alberta’s landscape for some time and is finally starting to return.
By Ruiping Luo
Read the PDF version here.
When you imagine the Great Plains of North America, what comes to mind? Is it the rolling grasslands, endlessly stretching to the distant horizon under a clear blue sky? Is it the spring blooms, brilliant pinks and purples and reds that dot vivid green meadows? Or the calls and flutters of songbirds, the meandering herds of deer and pronghorn, foxes and ferrets tracking through fresh-fallen snow?
There’s one thing that’s been missing from this picture for some time, and is finally starting to return: American bison. Tens of millions of bison once roamed much of the Great Plains and beyond, shaping the grasslands and forests. To this day, the bones of these great beasts can be found scattered across the land, their wallows and hoofprints entrenched deep into the soil.
History
American bison (Bison bison) or buffalo are the largest land animal in North America. Once, they ranged from above the Arctic Circle, in the current regions of Yukon and Alaska, to the warm grasslands of northern Mexico, and from the Rocky Mountains to the East Coast of the United States. These large herbivores, with bulls capable of growing to nearly 1,000 kilograms (or about 2,205 pounds), were a dominant grazer and a keystone species that changed the landscape.
In Canada, bison are classified into two distinct subspecies: wood bison (Bison bison athabascae) and plains bison (Bison bison bison). Wood bison are the larger subspecies, occupying the northern boreal forests, and can be distinguished by their taller hump and darker fur. Plains bison, found across the southern prairies, have more defined shaggy capes across their shoulders, and a stockier build. At their peak, there were an estimated 30 to 60 million plains bison across the Great Plains, and over 150,000 wood bison as late as the 1800s.
After European settlement, bison numbers declined rapidly. A combination of overhunting and targeted extermination – for the stated purpose of clearing land for settlers, and subjugating Indigenous populations — left only an estimated 1,000 bison by the 1900s. In Canada, plains bison were extirpated, except for the occasional wandering herd, in the 1880s, and only an estimated 200 wood bison remained.
In 1970, Alberta enacted the province’s first Wildlife Act. Policy was transitioning to broader wildlife management, and though initially the Wildlife Act still focused on hunting and game management, it set the basis for later endangered species conservation. Bison, which were nearly extinct at the time, were considered extirpated. While wood bison in northern Alberta were officially recognized as wildlife in 2021, plains bison remain listed as extirpated under Alberta’s Wildlife Act.
Ecology
Bison are a keystone species. Their presence changes the landscape, creating habitat and encouraging biodiversity. For millennia, bison grazing was one of the main disturbances on grasslands and meadows. Many of the plants and animals on these lands evolved with large, migrant bison herds, and are well-adapted to the disturbance.
Bison are graminivores and prefer to feed on grasses. This helps to reduce grass density and competitiveness, so more forbs and wildflowers can grow. These forbs, in turn, provide habitat and food for many other species. For instance, many bees and other pollinators rely on wildflower blooms for nectar and pollen. Bison grazing patterns produce a patchwork of habitat, with shorter grasses in some areas, and longer grasses in others. This diversity in habitat encourages a diversity of species.
Grazing was not the only way bison shaped the land. Their behaviour also left traces on the landscape. For instance, as bison herds migrated in search of new pastures or in response to predation, their hooves dug into the earth, helping to loosen and aerate soil. Seeds, caught on hair or swallowed, were carried and trampled into the ground across great distances. Bison also aided in nutrient cycling, their droppings acting as important sources of nitrogen, phosphorous and other minerals. Many insects, such as dung beetles and flies, will use bison dung, with one pat suggested to support up to 1,000 insects, which in turn are important prey for many birds, bats, turtles, frogs and lizards.
To protect themselves from insect bites and stings, bison would lie down and roll on the ground, an action known as wallowing. Bison often use the same places to wallow, creating bare depressions in the ground where some rare or pioneer species can establish. These depressions, with their tightly packed soils, could collect and hold water, creating temporary pools after rainfall that act as habitat for invertebrates, amphibians and birds. Bison also rub against trees, shrubs and rocks, stunting woody growth and leaving behind fur. Often, this fur will end up lining bird nests, or in ground squirrel burrows, providing warmth.
Bison are one of the few animals capable of shifting snow. Their massive shoulder and neck muscles allow them to shovel aside several tons of snow in one winter day, revealing the forage buried beneath. Other ungulates, such as deer, elk and pronghorn, benefit by following the bison tracks and taking advantage of uncovered grasses. And for some predators, such as wolves, bison are a vital food source through the frozen winter. Bison grazing, behaviour, and residue all contribute to the ecosystem and support many species in the prairies and open forest habitats.
Indigenous culture
For many Indigenous nations, bison are important for more than the health of the land — they are crucial to the health of the people.
“The buffalo are at the centre of all that,” said Katira Crow Shoe, director of education with the International Buffalo Relations Institute and a member of the Kainai Nation. “Buffalo are a keystone species, at the centre of multiple ecologies, and our culture. But they are also a keystone to our wellness.”
Known as iinnii to the Blackfoot or Tatâga to the Stoney Nakoda nations, bison are revered by First Nations across North America. Before colonization, bison served as a major source for food, clothing, tools and shelter. They feature heavily in ceremonies, stories and teachings from Elders, and as a symbol.
“They empower our people,” Crow Shoe added. “The symbolism of buffalo, and their practice of facing towards the storm, and overcoming challenges head-on is a message of strength and resilience.”
The loss and return of bison had a noticeable impact on Indigenous peoples, as individuals and as collective communities. As bison are brought back to the lands they vanished from, they are healing not only the ecosystems, but also the culture and the people on these lands. Reintroducing bison is a vital part of recovery and reconciliation, for Indigenous nations, and for all people.
Conserving the Species
As bison declined across North America, some efforts were made to conserve the species. In 1877, the Council of the North-West Territories passed An Ordinance for the Protection of Buffalo, which imposed limits on hunting in Canada. The ordinance was passed without consulting First Nations or Métis and was widely opposed. It also proved impossible to enforce using the limited resources of the North-West Mounted Police, and soon after, the ordinance was repealed. Another attempt was made in 1883, when the Ordinance for the Protection of Game was passed, although it too was largely ineffective. Over the next century, regulations would develop that helped to establish wildlife sanctuaries, parks and conservation regulations, though they also interfered with Indigenous hunting and fishing rights. None of these regulations were able to stop the bison population from collapsing.
In the early 1900s, the Canadian government purchased the Pablo-Allard herd. This herd was considered the largest and finest herd of plains bison remaining in North America, containing genetically-diverse bison captured from all over the continent, and kept free from interbreeding with cattle. Over nearly five years, these wild bison were rounded up from where they had been allowed to roam freely in the Flathead Reservation of Montana, and brought first to Elk Park — later renamed Elk Island National Park — then to Buffalo National Park near Wainwright. In the 1920s, due to overpopulation, disease and management challenges, 6,000 plains bison were shipped to Wood Buffalo National Park, and Buffalo National Park closed in 1939. Luckily, healthy plains bison remained in Elk Island National Park.
Wood bison, unlike plains bison, were never entirely lost from the north of Canada, although their populations had also greatly declined. Wood Buffalo National Park was created in 1922 to protect the few remaining wood bison. This conservation effort was jeopardized by the arrival of plains bison from Buffalo National Park, which resulted in hybridization and the spread of disease, and wood bison were thought to have been lost until a small herd was discovered in the Nyarling River region that appeared to be pure wood bison. A few individuals from this herd were brought to Elk Island National Park, eventually establishing a healthy herd. Today, Elk Island National Park’s plains and wood bison have helped to re-establish bison on many lands.
Where are bison now?
Since then, bison herds have been reintroduced in several areas. In Alberta, plains bison herds now thrive in Banff National Park, Waterton Lakes National Park and on the lands of many Indigenous nations. Plains and wood bison populations persist at Elk Island National Park, and additional wood bison subpopulations can be found at Wood Buffalo National Park, Ronald Lake, Wentzel/Wabasca, Hay Zama and Etthithun. An estimated 10,000 wood bison and 2,200 plains bison currently roam Canada, according to a 2023 Statistics Canada summary, and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) estimates a population of 20,000 plains bison across North America.
Where bison have been restored, they bring benefits.
“They graze differently … They will just keep moving around,” Michael Burak, Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) program director for Southwest Saskatchewan, said. “They cover huge distances in the course of a day or a week, so they don’t tend to just stand in one place and just eat everything around them, they will move and graze as they go and pass over different areas within the same pasture unit multiple times in a season or in a week or a month. They just graze differently so we don’t need to push them into different parts of the pasture.”
These characteristics mean that, even with minimal management, bison are unlikely to overgraze an area, and their movement helps to maintain the grassland for other species.
“It’s a fairly long list of things they do on the landscape, to provide ecological services,” stated Keith Aune, who served as the bison program director at Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and chair of the IUCN Bison Specialist Group.
Ecologically, the return of bison has been documented to improve plant, bird and ecosystem diversity, especially in tallgrass prairie, one of the most endangered habitats in the world. Through their wallowing, grazing and other behaviour, bison also improve the water retention capabilities of the landscape, promote soil structure and encourage belowground carbon sequestration. In grasslands where bison are present, plant communities were shown to be more drought resilient, and more capable of mitigating floods.
“Bison are our best allies facing drought, climate change, food security, reconciliation,” said Marie-Eve Marchand, a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) and Species Survival Commission (SSC). “Sometimes solutions are simple, and we need to say it simply.”
Marchand has been extensively involved in returning plains bison across the Northern Great Plains, working with Indigenous communities on the Buffalo Treaty and coordinating the initiatives which triggered the return of bison to Banff National Park. She has seen how the landscape changed after bison returned, and how many species depend on and interact with bison.
And the change is not only ecological. Marchand describes a “mentality change,” in both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.
“It speaks to the soul, as when family members are back.”
Katira Crow Shoe agreed. “The buffalo’s connection to our language, our stories, our songs, and ceremonies becomes a part of your identity,” she said. “When you have a strong identity, you are holistically stronger.”
For many communities, bison also represent a highly practical necessity: food. Returning bison to the lands provides a source of nutrient-dense, healthy meat for communities, at a time when health issues across the country are increasing due in part to unhealthy diets. For many First Nations and Métis peoples, it also offers a measure of food sovereignty and control over their nutrition.
Challenges to the return of bison
Despite all the benefits bison can provide, there remain barriers to reintroduction. In Alberta, one unnecessary complexity is the classification of bison in the province as livestock. Wood bison’s designation as wildlife in 2021 only counts within designated wildlife management units in the provinces’ north. Apart from a few protected regions, plains bison are generally not managed as wildlife, and are not protected. Instead, plains bison in Alberta (and Manitoba) are considered livestock.
“The confusing status of bison is hindering recovery,” Keith Aune said. “Whenever you shift from wildlife to livestock, you have certain requirements under the statutes and rules. It might mean you have to tag them, or capture and handle them every year.”
Michael Burak concurred. “If you’re managing them as livestock, there’s certain rules around tagging and identification that you have to follow.”
This creates confusion in how conservation herds are managed or handled, impedes the efficiency of protection measures and limits re-establishment of the species.
It also restricts movement of the animal, a point Katira Crow Shoe was quick to make. “That is the biggest barrier, them not being classified as wildlife, and having that ability to … freely move.”
The exclusion of free-ranging bison from the Wildlife Act fails to acknowledge the important role bison play in the ecosystem, and their culture and history in North America.
“When the Wildlife Act was established, they took it as bison didn’t exist anymore,” Marie-Eve Marchand explained, as they were nearly extirpated at the time. She continued that it is time the existence of bison was acknowledged, and their role in history honoured.
Alberta Wilderness Association believes that designating free-ranging bison as wildlife is long overdue. Earlier this year, AWA and six other environmental groups signed a joint letter to the Alberta Minister of Environment and Protected Areas and the Minister of Indigenous Affairs, requesting bison be listed as wildlife under the Alberta Wildlife Act. This designation is vital for effective management, conservation and recognition of bison on the Alberta landscape, and for future efforts to recover bison.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Marchand summarized, “It’s time to give the buffalo the position they should be on the land, our Western culture and our history.”
