Conservation partnerships return species missing for a century.

• Author: Orr, Vanessa
• Position: SCIENCE & TRANSPORTATION

While wood bison are usually considered to be fairly docile animals, the fact that they can weigh between 1,200 and 2,600 pounds makes them a rather intimidating species. So when one hundred of the animals needed to be moved from the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center at Portage outside Girdwood to a grassy valley outside the Alaska village of Shageluk--on an airplane--it was not only a momentous task, but will go down in history as one of the most significant conservation projects ever undertaken on the Last Frontier.

"When you look at the size and scope of the state, it's pretty amazing that there's not much original wildlife missing," says Cathie Harms, wildlife biologist and regional program manager for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) in Fairbanks. "Both musk ox and wood bison, which had been in Alaska for thousands of years, disappeared about the same time--around one hundred years ago. Musk ox were reintroduced in the 1970s, and the last hole we had in our ecosystem--the missing piece--was shaped like a wood bison.

"As a conservation story, it's really intriguing," Harms adds. "When people heard that we wanted to bring wood bison back, many of them wanted to play a role. I think that's why such a large number of organizations, businesses, and individuals stepped forward to help. It was truly amazing to see."

What Happened to the Wood Bison?

Wood bison used to be a part of the Alaska landscape. Athabascan oral histories describe how the animals were hunted for their hides and meat, and while they were scarce by the mid-1800s, they were still present in small numbers until the early 1900s. At one point thought to be extinct, their disappearance was credited to the combined effects of hunting and changes in habitat distribution. In 1957, an airplane crew spotted a small herd in Alberta, Canada, and today, thanks to Canadian protection laws, that country has more than five thousand disease-free wood bison in seven herds.

In 2003, the ADF&G acquired thirteen wood bison that had been imported from Canada, and the animals were transferred to the care of the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center with the hopes of reintroducing the species to the 49th state. In 2005, for the first time in more than one hundred years, wood bison calves were born in Alaska. Another 53 wood bison were brought from Canada in 2008, and the herd grew to more than 140 animals. Wood bison are different from the more commonly known plains bison in that they are taller, heavier, and darker; have a square-shaped hump; and are better adapted for northern climates.

"Wood bison are the largest land mammal in the western hemisphere, with females weighing between 1,200 and 1,400 pounds and herd males weighing about 2,000 pounds. Dominant males can weigh up to 2,600 pounds, though skeletal remains show that some animals could have been even larger," explains Scott Michaelis, director of marketing and sales, Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. "Just their sheer size and the volume of space that they occupy make them a magnificent creature."

The amount that they eat is impressive as well; the herd of wood bison at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center eats between three...