Wood Bison are dark brown terrestrial mammals. They feature very massive heads. They have a shaggy brown coat with long, thick, black beards. Males have short black horns, which curve inward, while females have straight horns. These bison have very large shoulders and a massive hump on their backs. Males are larger than females and measure about 3 to 4 meters long and 1.75 meters high at the shoulders. They weigh between 500 and 1000 kilograms. They are very distinctive animals, capable of running at speeds up to 35 mph.
Wood bison reach their sexual maturity somewhere between the ages of one and three years old. The gestational period for these animals is about 270 to 300 days. The females usually give birth twice over a three-year period and bear only single calves, generally in the month of May. Twins are rare for the wood bison. Calves are weaned at about 7 months, but are able to graze with the herds from the time they are a week old. Wood bison spend much of their time grazing.
They enjoy a diet of wild oats, rye, and wheat, lichens, horsetails and berries. They swallow their food unchewed and when they rest later in the day, they bring up this unchewed food, called cud, and chew it. The main enemies of the wood bison are the wolf, coyote, and grizzly bear. Of course, their main enemy is man! This breed has also had numerous problems with disease. Anthrax was a major problem for these animals before 1978. They have also had problems with tuberculosis.
Another kind of threat is from drowning. It is not uncommon for several hundred animals to drown by falling through thin ice. The wood bison was never an organism with an extremely large population. In the 1800’s, it was estimated that the population was at about 168,000 animals. They were almost hunted to extinction in the 19th century. In fact, by 1893, it was estimated that only 250 wood bison existed.
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By 1922, their population rebounded to about 1500 animals. It was then that Wood Buffalo National Park was established. The goal of the park was to save the wood bison from extinction and to preserve their shrinking habitat. Inbreeding and disease once again diminished the herds, but in 1957, a herd of about 200 pure wood bison was discovered in a remote corner of the park. Eighteen of these animals were captured in 1963 and released in the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary. These few animals managed to increase to about 1900 bison by 1998. This remains the largest free-range herd of disease free wood bison in the world.
In 1965 another 21 wood bison were sent to Elk Island National Park. This was extra insurance for the survival of this endangered species. The total population of wood bison in Wood Bison National Park is estimated at 2100 animals as of 1999. In 1887, the first laws against hunting wood bison were enacted. They were declared a protected species from such things as capture, harassment, trade and killing. Wood bison were declared endangered in 1977.
A population increase over the next decade lead to the down listing of them to threatened. Hopefully, the wood bison population will grow enough to be taken off these lists completely and a majestic animal will prosper again..
