Wood Bison

Bison bison athabascae

Safety note: Dangerous — observe from a safe distance.

The Wood Bison is the largest land animal in North America, larger and more massive than the plains bison, with a higher hump and darker, shaggier pelage. It was reduced to fewer than 300 individuals by 1957 and was considered functionally extinct until a pure remnant population was discovered in Wood Buffalo National Park. Conservation programs have restored the wood bison to approximately 7,000 individuals in northern Canada and Alaska.

Habitat

Boreal forests, meadows, and riparian flats of northern Canada

Diet

Grasses, sedges, and willows

How common

Rare

Not certain it is a Wood Bison? What animal is this? walks through what to check first and the lookalikes that catch people out.