It took a century, but the bison have finally returned to Banff.
CBC.ca reports an animal that once roamed freely at the Banff National Park has made its triumphant return.
Bison are being carefully reincorporated into the park with a process that includes taking 16 of the animals from Elk Island National Park and escorting them by truck and helicopter to what will at first be an enclosed space. The animals have not been seen in the park, save a display herd that was relegated to a paddock in the 90s, in over 100 years.
After extensive study and consideration, researchers are now keen to bring the animals back to an area it once lived rather freely in for eons.
Harvey Locke-a source CBC.ca describes as a conservationist, writer and trustee with the Eleanor Luxton Historical Foundation in Banff-explains: "I don't think the challenges for this herd are very large, because we know from the archeological record that bison were in this park for over 10,000 years…I think it's going to go very, very well, because it's a native species in its native habitat."
The following video gives you an idea as to the dramatic manner the bison made their way home:
[READMORE]READ MORE: Disney Announces Exciting Stars Wars, Avatar Theme Park News [/READMORE]
Locke states the reintroduction of the species is an important one: "Restoring wild bison…is the righting of wrong that was caused in the 19th century when we almost eliminated wild bison as a species… Banff Park was involved in saving the species from extinction 100 years ago, and today it's involved in restoring this species as part of the landscape, as a wild animal, and that is really exciting."
As for what this means for the 16 bison now in the park, the herd will live in a carefully monitored, enclosed pasture in Panther Valley.
There, the bison will get to feed and acclimate to the area. After that, it's back to the wild with a release into an eastern part of the park scheduled for summer 2018.
At that point, Banff will seem more like it used to for anyone who is celebrating their centennials that year.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
