BISON are Thriving After Near Extinction in Canada - Here's Why

[@DavidBysouth]

Credit to Braiding Knowledges Canada for many of the clips shared in this video. Check out the story they shared about the impact of the bison reintroduction program on Indigenous communities: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f4jRYpaQhdGtpJosi=GqF9315LaA4rF8c5. Also, check out our first look at the bison reintroduction story here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aJzClJieqdZ-j7Msi=Q9nSCt3-zlCyzcPz

[@SorenAlba54]

Everything that was mentioned here is something that I’ve seen countless times but I’m glad that it’s doing it so because it shows just how important these mighty creatures are in the grand scheme of things. Therefore, it saddens my heart whenever I hear about how the bison were once a force to be reckoned with; only to be brought down by colonizers who try to take these lands and its peoples in the most horrific way imaginable. It may not happen in my lifetime but I hope that, by some miracle, my descendants can see these beasts in their former glory in the far future. Thank you sharing this, David.

[@DavidBysouth]

Thanks for sharing. Hopefully things are starting to move in the right direction now. I’m glad you enjoyed the video!

[@stever2583]

@@SorenAlba54 That will never happen... Unfortunately the farmers will stop it!

[@SorenAlba54]

@@stever2583 Not if the Almighty Creator have anything to say about it. He placed them there before and He’ll sure as hell can do it again. Nature always prevails.

[@EllieJones-vv3nn]

From the UK. This is absolutely wonderful!! The reintroduction of the bison to Banff National Parks is such brilliant news. I'm hoping to visit in 2025 and looking forward immensely to witnessing it for myself 🤞 Congratulations to everyone concerned in the project 🙏

[@DavidBysouth]

Hope you have a great trip to Banff!

[@mattreeves2451]

Thanks for the detailed update, I have been checking in on this since 2017! There has only been fairly limited amount of info out there. I will be very interested to see what the data looks like on all the other species once the herd gets big enough to have full impact. Looking forward to your next video!

[@DavidBysouth]

It’s great to hear you’re interested and have been keep track of this project! I agree it will be super interesting to see where the impact of the herd as it continues to grow. I’m so glad you enjoyed the video!

[@saroruhagoswami9202]

Bby step to Restore our Planet Earth 🌎🌍 . I'm extremely happy to see & know. Love, Respect & support from India 🇮🇳❤️🙏🏻😊

[@timberwolfdtproductions3890]

I’m so glad to see this update. This reintroduction project is extremely important and exciting!

[@DavidBysouth]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@timberwolfdtproductions3890]

@ I enjoyed enough to become a subscriber!

[@JudithBisson]

Wow 33% per year that’s very impressive. Congratulations to the team👏🌟🥂🥳. Bravo

[@JoakimBalogh]

Interesting that they tried so hard to get the right individuals Fun to be the first to view, like and comment on this video!

[@piikoo3498]

Greetings from the arctic circle of northern Europe. I can't travel to see the Bisons, but I just want to tell you how happy I am about this successful project. I hope for a good continuation and successful new observations👏👏👏👉⛰🦬🦬🦬......

[@DavidBysouth]

Thanks for supporting from the Arctic circle!

[@bjbedits9087]

Previous numbers of 30000000 bison in Canada is a staggering amount of animals to slaughter. Unbelievable! I hope this project continues to succeed.

[@DavidBysouth]

It is definitely hard to wrap your mind around how we got here

[@timberwolfdtproductions3890]

I believe that number was for the entire continent, the vast majority of which were in the U.S. The population of Bison in Canada was relatively small compared to the U.S.

[@kalibmcleod3333]

What a dream project to be part of, but similar to our wood Bison project, I really wish they would let the numbers bounce back 10 fold before harvesting animals. My wife is Treaty First Nations so I understand the cultural importance of the Bison, but the risk of accidentally harvesting a genetically strong cow or bull is too high when numbers are below 500-1000 individuals. We pick VERY carefully which animals we harvest and we still have troubles at times deciding which ones will have the least impactful long term effects within the herds.

[@theuerlings1342]

Thank you, David. I am trying to restore an abandoned 5.74 acres parcel. You had a lot of great information in this video that I found helpful even though my parcel is much much smaller.

[@DavidBysouth]

So glad you found the information useful, best of luck with your restoration!

[@frankpierco8826]

Only 50 seconds in, and this man is summing up all the questions that popped up in my mind. At first I thought I finally found an American KZbinr with a complete brain, but sadly he's Canadian. Anywho ... 1 extra subscriber from Europe, looking forward to learn more about Canada and it's beautiful nature.

[@raclark2730]

Awesome stuff.

[@LucasProgeny]

Thank you for reminding me of this, and the well detailed descriptions outlining the various aspects to it. Especially the links you provided for further study, seeing I am not a biologist and look forward to learning more about the role of genetics in this project. I have one question arising from curiosity; with a potential maximum herd of a 1,000 bison on the 1,200 square kilometers of land, does this equate to roughly 1 square kilometer needed for each bison so they don't over-graze and thereby potentially damage the ecosystem?

[@DavidBysouth]

Glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for asking such a great question! I think the 1,000 animal herd size was more from a herd resilience perspective rather than an ecosystem perspective. With that said, based on what I have been reading you could use less space per bison and still have a sustainable herd. But with more space and actively relocating the bison as needed, this certainly prevents overgrazing and reduces predator-prey interactions. As a point of comparison, the largest wood bison herd is 3,000 individuals and they are in Wood Buffalo National Park. This is Canada's largest national park at almost 45,000 square km! Meaning they have much more than 1km/animal. With all this being said, I think it's hard to put an exact km/animal number as it would depend on the ecosystem type, climate, management practices, and the presence of other wildlife species. But I think the area they occupy in Banff currently allows them to have plenty of space while also improving ecological sustainability. But I am also not an expert on Bison ecology, so a wildlife ecologist may be able to provide a more complete answer here!

[@LucasProgeny]

@@DavidBysouth Thanks for taking the time to respond. You confirmed my initial notions on the variables involved to determine a healthy herd size, but didn't bring up in my first comment for the sake of brevity. Plus gave me more information I had not considered or known about. I was already certain there isn't one formula to determine herd size vs area of habitat, yet thought there might be a general 'rule-of-thumb' to calculate a sustainable ratio. As you have well illustrated, with so many variables that is probably not feasible. Thanks again, wishing the best for you and this channel.

[@chris123chris82]

Super cool! I freakin love wildlife conservation!

[@DavidBysouth]

Awesome!

[@Masqueepo]

Good video!

[@SC-fk9nc]

Bisons rock! Well done!

[@Xanman2000]

I hope the funding isn’t cut by the next government cause this gives hope

[@jeffkiesner9971]

❤

[@MarkCosgrove-b3p]

The bigger the heard, the safer it is, so it will grow at an excelerated pace and get bigger heards faster. More birds healthier grasslands ect ect ect. 😊

[@Unsolicitedbias]

I do hope that the human population collapse is gradual and steady and pronounced in the Great Plains of North America. I would love to see the Bison return to their ancestral migrations from Texas to Canada in a multiple state Biannual migration that builds up the natural Prairie Grasslands and the Bison herds in the tens of millions of individuals. This is my wish. This and the reintroduction of the Plains Tribes to move with the Bison and to rely again on their herds for the essential foods and materials for a nomadic life that they once lived. Perhaps an unrealistic dream, or perhaps a realistic one given the accelerated decline in European populations both here in North American and Europe too. I will be very happy to see European populations in the two continents to decline by fifty percent by 2100 as well the same for Asiatic peoples in India and Central and Eastern Asia. Again, fifty percent decline in people by 2100 at least... Ideally I would love to seem as little as 2.8 Billion People globally by the year 2100. That would be great. That and the steady rewilding of previous settled places for natural species to return to their prior native habitats.

[@chipthomas4169]

So, you don't like people?

[@robertoster1899]

Great video except for the mention of climate change of which most people know there is no such thing.

[@dalecampbell8141]

Get real. I saw bison in Banff Park in the nineteen fifties. Do your research!

[@DavidBysouth]

There were captive wood bison in a 30 hectare paddock in Banff in the 1900s. This video is about free roaming plains bison that were reintroduced to bring back a ‘wild’ herd

[@WanderingSkeptic-k3l]

Wow… At first I was so excited about this. But of course they would get hunted. And here I thought that our animals were safe from hunting at least in our national parks. Somebody’s skin colour, culture, or ancestry should not give someone a right to kill these animals, especially not in a national park. Shame on all who support this. It’s 2024. There’s no need to kill these beautiful animals for food.

[@DavidBysouth]

The Indigenous peoples who engaged in the cultural hunt last October were around long before the national park even existed and were forcibly removed from the land when it was created. Humans and bison both thrived in this area for thousands of years. The goal now is to get back to a place where that relationship can be sustainable both ecologically and culturally. The Indigenous communities in the area sustainably stewarded the land for generations, and it's important to respect and acknowledge that they know how to best steward it in 2025 as well.

[@timberwolfdtproductions3890]

That’s an extremely misguided and bigoted attitude. First Nations people lived in harmony with and sustainably harvested bison for many thousands of years before Europeans showed up and decided that their skin colour, culture, and ancestry gave them the right to tell the rightful stewards of the land what they could or couldn’t hunt. The First Nations people revered the bison, and ceremoniously thanked each bison they killed for giving its life so the people could survive. They made use of every part of the bison, as wasting any part was considered criminally ungrateful. The bison provided their food, their clothing, their shelter and their tools. Their dependence on, and appreciation of the bison was deeply cultural and spiritual, and was far more significant than just a source of meat. My question for you is, who the hell are you or I to judge wether or not people have the “right” to live the way they did sustainably on their own land for millennia before European colonists showed up and ruined everything?

[@GordonDavis-j8q]

You dont have all the facts. Dont be biased due to heritage...