The Last-Minute Rescue
By the late 1800s, the North American bison, which once numbered in the tens of millions, had been hunted to fewer than a thousand individuals. The species was on the verge of disappearing completely. In Montana, one of the last significant plains bison herds was owned by ranchers Michel Pablo and Charles Allard. When the U.S. government opened their grazing lands for settlement, Pablo was forced to sell. After the American government declined to buy the herd, the Canadian government made a purchase in 1907.
This decision triggered one of the largest wildlife translocations in history. Between 1907 and 1912, over 700 plains bison (Bison bison bison) were captured, loaded onto reinforced train cars, and shipped north. Their initial destination was a temporary holding site: a newly fenced preserve east of Edmonton called Elk Park. Originally established in 1906 to protect a small population of elk, the 195-square-kilometer park became a sanctuary for these foundational bison. When the main herd was later moved to a larger park, 40 to 70 bison evaded capture and remained. The descendants of these bison form the plains bison herd at Elk Island today.
Two Subspecies, One Park
Elk Island National Park is unique because it manages conservation herds of two distinct bison subspecies. Highway 16, which runs through the park, permanently separates between the plains bison to the north and the wood bison (Bison bison athabascae) to the south.
The wood bison are the largest land mammals in North America, generally 15-25% larger than their plains cousins. They have a taller, more triangular hump, and darker, shaggier fur. By the 1950s, the wood bison subspecies was thought to be extinct through overhunting and hybridization. However, a small, isolated herd was discovered in a remote corner of Wood Buffalo National Park in 1958. To protect the subspecies, 22 of these genetically distinct animals were moved to Elk Island in 1965. This small group started a disease-free herd that now numbers around 400.
Because the park is fully fenced, its bison populations must be actively managed to prevent overgrazing. This creates a surplus of healthy, disease-free animals. The park's plains bison herd is typically maintained at around 600 individuals. Regular roundups and transfers simulate the effects of predation and dispersal, maintaining the health of both the herds and their habitat.
A Global Source Herd
Elk Island's success has made it an important source for bison reintroduction and conservation projects worldwide. Over the past century, more than 3,000 bison have been translocated from the park. These animals helped establish new conservation herds across North America and beyond.
Bison from Elk Island have been sent to Banff National Park to restore a wild herd that had been absent for over a century. In 2016, 87 plains bison were transferred to the Blackfeet Nation Reservation in Montana, returning the descendants of the Pablo-Allard herd to their ancestral lands. Wood bison have been sent to Alaska to establish new free-ranging populations, with transfers occurring in 2008 and 2022, and more planned for the future. The park has also sent bison to numerous Indigenous communities in Alberta and Saskatchewan to help restore cultural connections and food sovereignty.