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Wood bison
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Wood bison
The wood bison (Bison bison athabascae) or mountain bison (often called the wood buffalo or mountain buffalo), and Athabaskan bison (or Athabaskan buffalo), is a distinct northern subspecies or ecotype of the American bison. Its original range included much of the boreal forest regions of Alaska, Yukon, western Northwest Territories, northeastern British Columbia, northern Alberta, and northwestern Saskatchewan. An attempt is ongoing to introduce them into the wilderness of Eurasia by Sakha Republic of Russia.
Pure-bred wood bison were believed to be extinct after the late 1920s as a result of intermixing with plains bison in Wood Buffalo National Park, then believed to be their last refuge. A nearly pure herd was found in 1957 in an isolated portion of the park. Herds called the Firebag River and Ronald Lake herds potentially have had no contact with the Wood Buffalo National Park herd.
Some consider the word "buffalo" to be a misnomer for this animal, as it is only distantly related to either of the two "true buffalo", the water buffalo and the African buffalo,[citation needed] but "bison" is a Greek word meaning an ox-like animal, while "buffalo" originated with the French fur trappers who called these massive beasts bœufs, meaning ox or bullock—so both names, "bison" and "buffalo", have a similar meaning. Though the name "bison" might be considered to be more scientifically correct, the name "buffalo" is listed in many dictionaries as an acceptable alternative for American bison. In reference to this animal, the term "buffalo" dates to 1635 in North American usage when the term was first recorded for the American mammal. It thus has a longer history than the term "bison", which was first recorded in 1774.[full citation needed]
The "eastern bison" (B. b. pennsylvanicus) from the eastern United States, a junior synonym of B. b. bison had been called "wood(s) bison" or "woodland bison", not referring to B. b. athabascae.
The name Bison bison athabascae was proposed by Samuel Rhoads for a bison southwest of the Great Slave Lake. This specimen was examined by J. Macoun and H. A. Ward.
The wood bison is potentially more primitive in phenotype than the plains bison (Bison bison bison), while the latter probably evolved from a mixing of Bison occidentalis and Bison antiquus. Existences of pure or near-pure animals preserving the original phenotypes prior to the 1920s are yet to be confirmed.
The wood bison is larger and heavier than the plains bison, and is among the largest extant bovids, being the heaviest and longest extant terrestrial animal in North America and Siberia. Large males have been recorded to reach 3.35 m (11.0 ft) in body length with 95 cm (3.12 ft) tails, 201 cm (6.59 ft) tall at withers, and 1,179 kg (2,600 lb) in weight, but wood bison body condition measures for 31 adult wood bison weight according to age and sex. As a result, the average weight of five male wood bison over 8.4 years old was recorded as 513 kg, the average weight of 20 female wood bison over 5.4 years old was recorded as 487 kg, and the average weight of five female wood bison over 6.6 years old was recorded as 443 kg. making it morphologically more similar to at least one of the chronological subspecies of ancestral steppe bisons (Bison priscus sp.) and Bison occidentalis.
The peak of the wood bison's shoulder hump sits anterior to the forelegs, while the plains bison's shoulder hump is located directly above the forelegs. Wood bison also have larger horn cores, darker and woollier hair, and less hair on their forelegs, with smaller and more pointed beards. Plains bison are capable of running faster, reaching up to 65 km/h (40 mph), and longer than bison living in the forests and mountains.
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Wood bison
The wood bison (Bison bison athabascae) or mountain bison (often called the wood buffalo or mountain buffalo), and Athabaskan bison (or Athabaskan buffalo), is a distinct northern subspecies or ecotype of the American bison. Its original range included much of the boreal forest regions of Alaska, Yukon, western Northwest Territories, northeastern British Columbia, northern Alberta, and northwestern Saskatchewan. An attempt is ongoing to introduce them into the wilderness of Eurasia by Sakha Republic of Russia.
Pure-bred wood bison were believed to be extinct after the late 1920s as a result of intermixing with plains bison in Wood Buffalo National Park, then believed to be their last refuge. A nearly pure herd was found in 1957 in an isolated portion of the park. Herds called the Firebag River and Ronald Lake herds potentially have had no contact with the Wood Buffalo National Park herd.
Some consider the word "buffalo" to be a misnomer for this animal, as it is only distantly related to either of the two "true buffalo", the water buffalo and the African buffalo,[citation needed] but "bison" is a Greek word meaning an ox-like animal, while "buffalo" originated with the French fur trappers who called these massive beasts bœufs, meaning ox or bullock—so both names, "bison" and "buffalo", have a similar meaning. Though the name "bison" might be considered to be more scientifically correct, the name "buffalo" is listed in many dictionaries as an acceptable alternative for American bison. In reference to this animal, the term "buffalo" dates to 1635 in North American usage when the term was first recorded for the American mammal. It thus has a longer history than the term "bison", which was first recorded in 1774.[full citation needed]
The "eastern bison" (B. b. pennsylvanicus) from the eastern United States, a junior synonym of B. b. bison had been called "wood(s) bison" or "woodland bison", not referring to B. b. athabascae.
The name Bison bison athabascae was proposed by Samuel Rhoads for a bison southwest of the Great Slave Lake. This specimen was examined by J. Macoun and H. A. Ward.
The wood bison is potentially more primitive in phenotype than the plains bison (Bison bison bison), while the latter probably evolved from a mixing of Bison occidentalis and Bison antiquus. Existences of pure or near-pure animals preserving the original phenotypes prior to the 1920s are yet to be confirmed.
The wood bison is larger and heavier than the plains bison, and is among the largest extant bovids, being the heaviest and longest extant terrestrial animal in North America and Siberia. Large males have been recorded to reach 3.35 m (11.0 ft) in body length with 95 cm (3.12 ft) tails, 201 cm (6.59 ft) tall at withers, and 1,179 kg (2,600 lb) in weight, but wood bison body condition measures for 31 adult wood bison weight according to age and sex. As a result, the average weight of five male wood bison over 8.4 years old was recorded as 513 kg, the average weight of 20 female wood bison over 5.4 years old was recorded as 487 kg, and the average weight of five female wood bison over 6.6 years old was recorded as 443 kg. making it morphologically more similar to at least one of the chronological subspecies of ancestral steppe bisons (Bison priscus sp.) and Bison occidentalis.
The peak of the wood bison's shoulder hump sits anterior to the forelegs, while the plains bison's shoulder hump is located directly above the forelegs. Wood bison also have larger horn cores, darker and woollier hair, and less hair on their forelegs, with smaller and more pointed beards. Plains bison are capable of running faster, reaching up to 65 km/h (40 mph), and longer than bison living in the forests and mountains.
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