Wood bison 'threatened' in NWT
Species at Risk Committee assessment includes Mackenzie, Nahanni herds
April Hudson
Northern News Services
Thursday, May 5, 2016
ACHO DENE KOE/FORT LIARD
The NWT's Species at Risk Committee is saying wood bison are facing an existential threat with the Mackenzie herd particularly hard hit.
The Mackenzie and the Nahanni are two of the three places in the Northwest Territories wood bison can be found. On April 22, the NWT Species at Risk Committee announced wood bison are threatened in the territory. - photo courtesy of Thorsten Gohl
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"We're thinking if things are not going better ... they have a chance of being gone within our children's lifetime," said alternate chairperson Dr. Suzanne Carrière, adding that while the Nahanni population - which was introduced to the region in the 1980s - is doing well, the Mackenzie herd has "hit the plateau."
"(Mackenzie) wood bison were introduced way back, so they got a high number and now they're declining," she said.
Two herds of bison affected by this decision roam the Deh Cho - the Mackenzie and Nahanni herds. With 2,500 wood bison, the territory accounts for 32 per cent of the world's wood bison population, according to the committee.
A news release sent out April 22 from the committee stated that wood bison were assessed as threatened due to a small population, population decline, disease, predation and human-caused mortality, as well as loss of habitat.
The committee describes wood bison as "important grazers" and key to the boreal forest ecosystem.
Mackenzie wood bison are still recovering from the anthrax outbreak that hit the herd in 2012. Carrière said anthrax remains a threat.
"When the outbreak happened, there were a lot of bison killed," she said.
Wood bison are particularly susceptible to the disease because they have a habit of rolling in dust. Anthrax spores live in the ground and bison breathe them in when they roll.
Carrière said the Nahanni herd is doing better, relatively disease-free.
"They don't have anthrax outbreaks, so because of Nahanni there are more bison in the NWT," she said.
"Sometimes they'll still die from drowning and other things, so we have to be careful to reduce the threats. When you count all the wood bison in the NWT, there's only 2,500 - it's not that much."
Over the past two years, the committee has prepared a 200-page assessment of wood bison based on factors affecting population, including biology, habitat, threats and trends. The report was informed by both scientific data and traditional knowledge.
Carrière told Deh Cho Drum that now that an assessment has been completed, the report would be discussed by the Conference of Management Authority at a meeting in May.
From there, the minister of Environment and Natural Resources have the opportunity approve the listing of wood bison as threatened.
"So far, all assessments done in the Northwest Territories have resulted in listing," she said.
Listing triggers the need for a recovery strategy which can take years.
