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Yukon Bison Management Plan
Executive Summary

Pleistocene bison have inhabited the Yukon for perhaps as long as 700,000 years. Wood bison evolved from them in the Beringia Refugium about 5,000 years ago. They were once one of the most common grazing mammals. However, successional changes in habitat from cold steppe to spruce forests during recent centuries caused a decline in numbers and reduced distribution. Around 1800 there were still 160,000 Wood bison in existence, but the arrival of white people, the fur trade and the availability of firearms caused drastic reductions. By the turn of the century, only 200 to 300 Wood bison were left.

Early conservation efforts included the establishment of Wood Buffalo National Park in 1922. Wood bison numbers began to rise, but the release of over 6,000 Plains bison into the park caused hybridization. This genetic contamination, plus three cattle diseases (tuberculosis, brucellosis and anthrax) which were introduced with the Plains bison, have been the most serious obstacle in Canada's Wood Bison Recovery Program. However, a small herd of pure, healthy Wood bison was discovered in a remote area of the park in 1959. Forty-two of these bison were captured, of which 24 were released in Elk Island National Park and 18 north of Great Slave Lake, into what is now the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary. These two new herds were the beginning of the current Wood Bison Recovery Program.

In 1980, the Yukon decided to participate in the national effort to bring about recovery of this endangered species by making the commitment to establish one free roaming herd of viable size. Range reconnaissance by the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) had documented the Nisling River watershed as the best bison range in southern Yukon with a carrying capacity of at least 400 head. An enclosure was established to habituate Wood bison to Yukon's environmental conditions and, between 1986 and 1992, 142 bison were brought to the Yukon, primarily from Elk Island National Park.

Between 1988 and 1992, 170 bison were set free. The wild herd has grown at a rate of 10 to 20% per year, expanding its range southward into the Aishihik, Selkumun and Hutshi Lakes' watersheds, an area of about 4,000 km². The herd is presently about 300 head, and the first management plan expired in 1994.

Objectives of the new five-year plan are:

• To establish a viable, free-roaming herd of Wood bison of about 500 in the area currently occupied by them
• To maintain the genetic purity of the Yukon's Wood bison and, if possible, enhance their genetic repertoire to improve adaptation to the subarctic environment
• To maintain the disease-free status of the Yukon's Wood bison
• To develop habitat management strategies that will ensure the maintenance of the Wood bison range in its pristine condition
• To optimize opportunities for hunting as well as non-consumptive uses of the Wood bison resource for the benefit of all Yukoners and visitors
• To implement mitigative measures to reduce the impact of bison on other ecosystem components.