Canada and the "buffalo", Bison bison: A tale of two herds

Abstract

From 1907 to 1912 the Canadian government purchased and imported more than 700 plains Bison, Bison bison, from Michel Pablo in Montana. A new national park, with an area of 159 square miles was established near Wainwright, Alberta, to accommodate them. It has generally been acknowledged that Buffalo National Park played an important role in saving the Plains Bison from extinction. This paper makes use of a packet of government files that were saved from destruction during the early 1940s. The files deal mainly with events from 1912 to 1925, including the first appearance of bovine tuberculosis, and later the prevalence of tuberculosis in the herd. They also contain notes from the meetings of senior civil servants that led to the decision to transfer diseased plains bison to Wood Buffalo National Park, as well as summaries of submissions of those opposed to the transfer. One option, to slaughter the entire herd and start over with disease-free stock, was rejected by well-meaning members of the public. When the Buffalo National Park was turned over to the military in 1940, 17 000 bison had been slaughtered as a result of annual culling. Ironically, had a total slaughter been carried out in 1923, fewer than 7 000 would have been killed. In addition, it is probable that we would have pure Wood Bison and no tuberculosis in Wood Buffalo National Park. In 1963, 18 disease-free Bison derived from a group of animals that showed some of the characteristics of Wood Bison, were released in the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary. That herd now numbers about 2 600 individuals. As in 1923 we again have two herds, one with a high prevalence of tuberculosis and a second that is disease-free. In 1990 an Environment Panel (1990) recommended total depopulation of Wood Buffalo National Park and restocking with disease-free animals. As in 1923 the recommendation to slaughter and restock met opposition on several fronts and so far no action has been taken. Must we repeat the serious error made in 1923?