WRRB Supports Continued Harvest Closure for Mackenzie Wood Bison

November 05, 2014

At its October meeting, the Board agreed to support a continued harvest closure of the Mackenzie Wood Bison for the 2014 / 2015 and 2015 / 2016 harvest seasons.

Wood Bison are listed as Threatened under the federal Species at Risk Act--and here, in the NWT, they are considered a species at risk under the NWT General Status Ranking Program.  In 2012, over 450 Mackenzie Wood Bison were lost as a result of an anthrax outbreak that summer.  Environment and Natural Resources (ENR), GNWT, conducted an aerial survey of the herd in March 2013 which estimated the herd's population at 700 bison, well below the 1000 animals that the Draft National Recovery Strategy has set as the minimum size for a wood bison population to be considered recovered.  A species is considered recovered if it is able to survive on its own in the wild.

To minimize additional losses from the herd, wood bison harvesting in the Mackenzie Wood Bison range was closed for all harvesters for  the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 hunting seasons to help promote the population's recovery.

This summer, 2014, ENR conducted a calf composition survey, but because of poor conditions caused by the smoke from forest fires, survey results were limited, and there is no new information to suggest that the bison population has increased or that it is large enough to sustain harvest.  The Board also recommended that ENR conduct a population survey in March 2016 to update the population estimate for the Mackenzie Wood Bison. 

Fact Box
  • The calf composition survey indicates what proportion of the herd is made up of calves (calculated as a ratio of the number of calves per 100 cows), which helps to assess how well the herd is doing and if there are changes.

  • The calf composition survey indicates what proportion of the herd is made up of calves (calculated as a ratio of the number of calves per 100 cows) which helps to assess how well the herd is doing, and if there are changes. 

  • Management of wood bison in the NWT is guided by the Wood Bison Management Strategy fo rthe Northwest Territories, 2010-2020.
  • The WRRB is a member of the Mackenzie Wood Bison Working Group which was formed to draft a management plan for the Mackenzie Bison population.  Other members are from the community of Fort Providence,resource management boards, the Tłı̨chǫ Government, the NWT Métis Nation, the North Slave Métis Alliance, NWT Wildlife Federation, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, GNWT.
  • The Species at Risk Committee (SARC) has released a draft Species Status Report for Wood Bison.  It is available on the NWT Species at Risk website for review and comment.  SARC is established under the Species at Risk (NWT) Act to assess the biological status of species that may be at risk in the NWT.