Wood bison make it to Alaska village; April release planned

Two wood bison bulls weighing upward of 2,000 pounds move toward higher ground at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center on Sunday, March 22, 2015, in Portage, Alaska. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game on Sunday moved the first wood bison to a staging area in Shageluk, Alaska, for reintroduction in a few week to their native Alaska grazing grounds. Wood bison, which are larger than plains bison native found in Lower 48 states, disappeared from U.S. soil more than a century ago. (AP Photo/Dan Joling) Two wood bison bulls weighing upward of 2,000 pounds move toward higher ground at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center on Sunday, March 22, 2015, in Portage, Alaska. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game on Sunday moved the first wood bison to a staging area in Shageluk, Alaska, for reintroduction in a few week to their native Alaska grazing grounds. Wood bison, which are larger than plains bison native found in Lower 48 states, disappeared from U.S. soil more than a century ago. (AP Photo/Dan Joling)

By Associated Press March 27, 2015 3 min read

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A hundred wood bison that will be the foundation for the first wild herd on U.S. soil in more than a century have been safely delivered to a rural Alaska village, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

“They are acclimating very rapidly,” said department biologist Cathie Harms. “They are doing very well so far.”

They likely will be released from Shageluk into the Innoko Flats in one or two weeks, she said.

Wood bison are native to Alaska, but disappeared from the state more than a century ago.

They’re bigger than plains bison found in Lower 48 states and are North America’s largest land animal. Adult wood bison bulls can weigh more than 2,000 pounds and cows up to 1,200 pounds.