44 Elk Island Wood Bison Moved to Alaska as Part of Conservation and Repopulating Efforts

Parks Canada is transferring 44 wood bison from Elk Island National Park in Alberta to the State of Alaska as part of an ongoing transfer program to help protect the species. Elk Island National Park photo

The Canadian government is transferring 44 wood bison from Elk Island National Park in Alberta to Alaska to help preserve and grow the “threatened” species.

The animals were loaded onto trailers by Parks Canada employees on the morning of April 13 to make the more than 2,000-kilometre trip to their new home.

The relocation was months in the making, the national park said in a social media post, adding that such transfers take a lot of planning and collaboration.

“Elk Island’s bison are transported using calm, low‑stress handling techniques designed to prioritize their safety and well‑being at every step,” the park said. “These relocations are an important part of maintaining healthy habitat inside Elk Island’s fully fenced landscape.”

Canada has for decades been dedicated to restoring bison populations to help prevent their extinction, Parks Canada said in a press release. This transfer marks the fourth relocation of wood bison from the park to Alaska, following previous relocations in 2008, 2022, and 2024, as part of Elk Island National Park’s transfer program.

The program has allowed bison to return to indigenous nations, other national parks in Canada, and conservation projects throughout North America and beyond, the federal agency said.

Alaska has been a major recipient of the transfer program over the years, Alaska Department of Fish and Game Wood Bison Project biologist Tom Seaton said.

Alaska currently has more than 170 bison across two herds in the wild and 50 bison in two herds in captivity that either came from or are direct descendants of Elk Island National Park herds, Seaton said in the press release.

“The State of Alaska will be forever grateful that the Government of Canada took the steps to save the last remaining wood bison and later established a disease-free population at Elk Island National Park to propagate wood bison for release elsewhere,” he said.

Wood Bison Status

Wood bison have been listed as “threatened” under Canada’s Species at Risk Act since 2003,  after recovering from near-extinction. A key threat to the species is disease, according to Environment Canada.

It first became an issue in the 1920s when plains bison from Buffalo National Park in Wainwright, Alta., were relocated to Wood Buffalo National Park to help with overpopulation.

Once there, the plains bison interbred with wood bison, resulting in the introduction of two cattle diseases to their populations: bovine tuberculosis and bovine brucellosis.

Environment Canada said these diseases now represent “a major management concern” and threaten wood bison herds found both within and near Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada’s largest national park. It straddles northeastern Alberta and the southern Northwest Territories and is currently home to 3,000 wood bison, or roughly 50 percent of the species.

Another major contributing factor to the state of the species is habitat loss, the ministry said. Human development aimed at agriculture and industrial projects has reduced habitat for wood bison. Natural flood patterns have been altered by hydroelectric projects, and the changing climate has further degraded habitat quality for certain wood bison, especially in the Peace-Athabasca delta region.

The government has allocated funding to support the recovery of wood bison populations along the border between Alberta and the Northwest Territories as part of its A Force of Nature plan released in March. The $3.8 billion plan to conserve 30 percent of Canada’s lands and waters by 2030 also earmarks $90 million to support the recovery of wood bison populations along the Alberta-Northwest Territories border.

Plains Bison

Plains bison have also been under the care of Parks Canada. The government has relocated the smaller, shaggier, cousin of the wood bison to areas where they had ceased to exist. Sixteen healthy plains bison were relocated from Elk Island National Park to Banff National Park in 2017.

Wood and plains bison from Elk Island National Park have been moved across Canada, the United States and even Russia to start several new herds, the ministry said.

Plains bison are also listed as threatened by the Committee On the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada after being close to extinction in the late 1800s.

Their historical range in Canada included an area that stretched from the Rocky Mountains in the west, passing through southern Manitoba in the east, and from mid-Alberta and Saskatchewan southward to the border.

Bison are the largest land mammals in North America, but wood bison weigh up to 15 percent more than the plains bison and tend to be more muscular with a more pronounced shoulder hump.

Wood bison are currently found in British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon, and Northwest Territories, the ministry said. There are also wood bison in Manitoba, although it is outside the species’ historical range.