Tiny against the Canadian Rockies, they are back in the prairies, roaming the mountains… The plains bison, which once numbered in the tens of millions in Canada before being exterminated, have returned to their ancestral lands, bringing back a balance in the ecosystem.
An emblematic animal of the North American landscape, the largest mammal on the continent, it disappeared in the wild in the 19th century, mainly due to hunting by settlers.
“The day the bison set foot on this territory, I felt like I had brought them home,” says Wes Olson, who accompanied the first 16 individuals to Banff Park, the oldest in the country.
Transferred by car and then helicopter from a reserve 450 kilometers further north, the births have multiplied rapidly and there will be nearly 100 by the end of the year.
Given this “vigorous rate of growth,” the group may no longer be classified as endangered within a decade, Parks Canada concluded in a final report released this week, calling the pilot project a ” hit”.
As soon as they arrive, “it’s as if all the ancestral knowledge imprisoned in the territory had suddenly reactivated”, says Mr. Olson, a former national park warden, fascinated to see that other species have “intrinsically” been able to take advantage bison.
In the spring, squirrels with swollen cheeks are busy collecting the hair left by these peaceful colossi, says the 69-year-old man with a slender figure and weathered features hidden under a large cowboy hat.
But the birds are not left out: on the bare backs of the bison, they take turns, looking for seeds or small bits of fur to make their nests and thus increase the chances of survival of their young.
True “keystone” of the ecosystem, the wild bison, by their way of grazing, have shaped the region of the great American plains over the centuries.
This also benefits other species such as elk or goats, explains Marie-Eve Marchand of the International Institute of Relations with Bison.
“These ecosystem engineers” are “the best grazers, a bit like elephants in Africa”, adds this enthusiast, bison brooch on the jacket.
By constantly moving, herds allow the land to regenerate, to enrich itself but also to absorb more water and carbon, according to a study by the University of Alberta. Other research shows that the presence of bison makes the prairie ecosystem more resilient to drought.
By reintroducing the bison to Banff, “ancestral gathering place” of Aboriginal peoples, we bring back above all “part of the relationship that the first inhabitants of this place had with the territory”, underlines Marie-Eve Marchand.
“The bison were our main source of food, our sustenance, our refuge,” says Violet Meguinis, from the Tsuut’ina community.
Without these large nomadic herbivores, Native Americans were forced to settle on reservations for lack of food.
“The simple fact of bringing them back and releasing them into the wild is significant for us”, it is “a step towards reconciliation” between the indigenous peoples and the Canadian government, she slips with a smile on her lips.
At the same time, several indigenous communities have also set up other reintroduction programs in recent years.
A hundred kilometers east of Banff Park, in the heart of the Great Plains of the province of Alberta, nearly 400 bison thrive in the Tsuut’ina Nation.
For Clayton Whitney, who has cared for these animals for eight years, “helping to save them from extinction” is an “honor” considering the role they play for the community.
Several forgotten medicinal plants have thus reappeared after the passage of these cloven-hoofed giants and for several years, their number has enabled the community to kill some of them for their meat, reconnecting with lost traditions.
All the inhabitants participate in this highly symbolic ritual, explains the soft-spoken guardian, from the elders who teach which parts to keep, to the young people who learn how to butcher.
Eventually, the natives hope to be more involved in the management of this animal, which is sacred to them.
“We want to be able to make decisions,” says Violet Meguinis. “And that power was never given to us.”
06/23/2023 13:20:11 – Banff (Canada) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP