After a 140-year gap, iconic birth occurs on Canadian land
Digital Reporter
Tuesday, April 25, 2017, 7:29 PM - Banff National Park commemorated this year's Earth Day with the iconic birth of a wild bison, a first for the national park in 140 years.
Since the first calf was born on April 22, two more baby bison have become part of the herd. Seven more calves are expected to follow, CBC News reports.
"It's a really key step, and the fact that these young calves look so healthy and so well adjusted in this habitat is really encouraging," Bill Hunt, a Parks Canada resource conservation manager, told the CBC.
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BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT Introducing Calf #1 Born ...
BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT Introducing Calf #1 Born Earth Day, 2017 Proud offspring of Cow #10 and first bison born in the Banff National Park backcountry in 140 years Mother and calf doing well #banffbison image: Adam Ziervogel
"It's a huge step in this process," Hunt told the CBC. "We know … that where a young female drops her calf it really ties her to that space even if she was born somewhere else."
In the late '90s Parks Canada housed a "display herd" of bison near Banff's townsite, the CBC reports. But the latest herd -- part of a group of 16 relocated bison -- are part of a return to wild animals.
#BREAKING: As part of the larger initiative to reintroduce #bison, the 1st bison calf was born in @BanffNP in + 140 years... on #EarthDay! pic.twitter.com/biFLhMGrHF
— Minister C. McKenna (@ec_minister) April 25, 2017
Hunt added that the the young bison currently linger near their mother, but are expected to become more playful in the future.
The bison will continue to be tracked from a distance by Parks Canada via radio collars.
Thumbnail image courtesy of Adam Zier-Vogel/Parks Canada.
