The GNWT is working alongside Parks Canada to help monitor the health and safety of wood bison that live within the Wood Buffalo National Park.
As wood bison are considered a “Threatened” species in the NWT, the government is taking a number of actions to make sure the remaining animals are properly protected. Chief among the strategies is the plan to equip the bison with stellite collars.
These collars will gather GPS data that will be used by wildlife managers to study where the herds are traveling, and where their most frequent habitats are located. This information will be used to help shape decisions on what can be done to keep the herds safe, especially from diseases like bovine tuberculosis and bovine brucellosis, both of which has proven to be particular challenges. This data is also expected to show how the herds have reacted to the 2023 wildfires.
The current goal is to apply collars to twenty female adult wood bison in both the Nyarling and Little Buffalo herds. While these herds can be challenging to track down within their respective areas, they are often spotted along the edges of nearby highways, which will provide the best opportunitis to collar them.
Drivers along Highway 5 may be seeing some of these collaring crews at work along the road. If a crew is encountered, drivers are simply asked to reduce their speed and give them the space they need to do their work.
