44 wood bison headed to Alaska from Elk Island National Park

Forty-four wood bison are on their way to Alaska Tuesday after being loaded onto trailers at Elk Island National Park on Monday.

As part of efforts to grow the global bison population, 44 wood bison are headed to Alaska from Elk Island National Park.

The journey began Monday morning, with Parks Canada employees loading the animals into trailers to make the trip.

This is the fourth relocation of bison from the park to Alaska, with the others happening in 2008, 2022 and 2024.

“The transfer of bison from Elk Island National Park will bolster the global security of the species and ensure these iconic animals roam for generations to come,” said Julie Dabrusin, federal minister of environment, climate change and nature.

Canada has been working to bring bison back from the brink of extinction for decades, and the ongoing efforts are “one of the greatest conservation success stories of Parks Canada and its partners,” according to the government.

Through the program at Elk Island National Park, bison have been relocated to Indigenous nations, other parks in Canada and conservation projects throughout the world.

In Alaska, there are more than 170 bison across two herds living in the wild and 50 in two herds that live in captivity, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Those bison are from Elk Island National Park or descendants of ones that were.

New federal funding aims to support the recovery of wood bison populations along the border between Alberta and the Northwest Territories.

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Bison are the largest land mammal in Canada. Elk Island is home to two subspecies of the North American bison, wood and plain.

In the early 20th century, wild bison numbers dropped to fewer than a few thousand animals, according to parks Canada. Since then, Elk Island National Park has become one of the “key refuges” where stable herds could grow and remain disease-free.