Bringing the Wood Bison Back to Alaska.
Once nearly extinct, the subspecies is set to return to the United States
Wood bison aren’t the most accommodating of animals. When bothered, these super-sized versions of America’s sweetheart, the plains bison, can become as solid as Stonehenge, refusing to budge, or they might take off running—at up to 40 miles per hour. It’s an impressive feat for North America’s largest land mammal (bulls weigh up to 2,600 pounds), but it’s exactly the type of balky behavior that Tom Seaton, a mukluks-wearing biologist with Alaska’s fish and game department, is trying to avoid.
Beginning later this month, Seaton will chaperon 100 bison, bred to be genetically diverse to boost their shot at survival, across nearly 400 miles to a new home in Alaska’s wilderness, where they have not lived in the wild for more than a century.
Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/bringing-wood-bison-back-to-alaska-180954326/#BlVy8UeGAcMXPqpl.99
Once nearly extinct, the subspecies is set to return to the United States
Wood bison aren’t the most accommodating of animals. When bothered, these super-sized versions of America’s sweetheart, the plains bison, can become as solid as Stonehenge, refusing to budge, or they might take off running—at up to 40 miles per hour. It’s an impressive feat for North America’s largest land mammal (bulls weigh up to 2,600 pounds), but it’s exactly the type of balky behavior that Tom Seaton, a mukluks-wearing biologist with Alaska’s fish and game department, is trying to avoid.
Beginning later this month, Seaton will chaperon 100 bison, bred to be genetically diverse to boost their shot at survival, across nearly 400 miles to a new home in Alaska’s wilderness, where they have not lived in the wild for more than a century.
Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/bringing-wood-bison-back-to-alaska-180954326/#BlVy8UeGAcMXPqpl.99
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