Did bison live here in the past?
Many skulls of bison have been found in the region of Pleistocene Park along with bones of mammoth, wooly rhinocerous, and horses. There is good reason to believe that the Canadian wood bison, a subspecies which has been brought back from the brink of extinction in recent years, are the closest relatives of the bison that lived here thousands of years ago.
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Why do we need bison now? Scientists believe that bison were a key element of the rich steppes
that covered northern regions during the Pleistocene. They fed on
the abundant grasses, fertilized the soil, and prevented insulating mosses
from growing by disturbing the soils with their heavy hooves. Introduction
of bison to Pleistocene Park is necessary to ensure the future of
a grassland ecosystem.
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Currently, the Canadian Wood Bison Recovery Team has approved the principle
of translocation of wood bison to Siberia, and an intertnational committee
of specialists is working with government agencies to detail procedures
for the project.
Supporters of Pleistocene Park are writing proposals to seek funding to cover costs of transportation and related economic and educational development. In the picture on the left, Sergei Zimov looks at plains bison at the Kater's bison farm in Two Rivers, Interior Alaska.
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