COCHRANE, Alta. — Bison could be roaming Banff National Park by 2014.
Federal environment minister Peter Kent announced the plan to bring Plains bison back to the park at the end of January.
However, some of the park’s neighbours are questioning the animals’ health status and whether fences could keep the animals from wandering into ranchlands and settled areas where they might meet livestock and share diseases.
“There hasn’t been a restoration done in the last 40 years that I am aware of, that put diseased animals down on the ground,” said Cliff White of the Canadian Rockies Bison Initiative.
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The proposal to bring the bison back to Banff was discussed at a meeting in Cochrane Feb. 24. Further public meetings will be held as the proposal develops more details.
White said bison once dominated the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, but elk are now the most populous large mammal.
A 2010 study published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature said diseases are common in the Plains bison herds of Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park/National Elk Refuge in the United States.
Both herds have brucellosis, while the Wood bison in and around Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Alberta have tuberculosis and brucellosis.
The study said disease issues often trump conservation concerns because powerful agricultural interests insist on careful selection of stock with testing and health monitoring of the herds.
Parks Canada already manages bison in six national parks: Elk Island, Wood Buffalo, Nahanni, Prince Albert, Grasslands and Waterton.
There is a large population of landowners, communities, recreationists, agricultural, forestry, and oil and gas industries on Banff’s eastern boundary whose interests must be considered and protected, said the proposal from Parks Canada.
About 100 head from Elk Island National Park would be sent to the park. It’s hoped fences and natural barriers such as lakes and mountains would keep them enclosed in about 3,000 sq. kilometres of the eastern park.
Jennifer Fraser of Cochrane said fences may not hold back the bison, which could escape if there is not enough forage.
Bringing the bison back is a good idea, she added, but they need to be inoculated against disease in the same way as cattle to protect Canada’s animal health status.
“Then if a buffalo gets out, at least they’re not going to infect the cattle industry,” she said.
Erik Butters, a rancher and municipal councilor in the Municipal District of Big Horn bordering the park, said the return of bison is inevitable.
“I think you have to be very cautious, but I am not going to say don’t do it,” he said.
The proposal suggests reaching an agreement with First Nations people to hunt the bison to keep their numbers in balance. They already take 20 to 30 elk a year under a culling agreement.
Butters said animals slaughtered under that agreement should have a blood test for tuberculosis and brucellosis.
“I’m OK with it, but one thing … if they are going to cull them, test them,” he said.
Plains and Wood bison roamed the North American continent for thousands of years.
They were reduced to about 1,000 by the mid-1800s due to overhunting and have been slowly rebuilt in conservation herds and as domestic livestock.
There were 400,000 bison in commercial herds in North America as of 2008, but less than 40,000 in conservation herds.
More up-to-date numbers on the size of the commercial bison herd will be available in the agriculture census released in May, said Terry Kremeniuk, executive director of the Canadian Bison Association.
The association has no qualms about restoring bison to national parks and doesn’t think disease questions are an issue.
“As I understand it, these animals would be coming out of Elk Island Park and they would be given a clean bill of health before they left,” Kremeniuk said.
“From our perspective, there should be no issue,” he said.
For more information, visit www.bisonbelong.ca.
