Sweet success; all 100 wood bison make it to Shageluk unharmed
SHAGELUK -
History was made in Shageluk this week. The population more than doubled as the small community of 70 welcomed a hundred wood bison onto its lands.
So far so good; wood bison successfully reintroduced...
First wood bison head for release in southwest Alaska
Workers turn containers into 'bison boxes' to move Alaska...
North America's largest land mammal disappeared from Alaska more than a century ago but thanks to a small herd of 13 transported from Canada in 2003 to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center in Portage, wood bison are now able to roam in their natural U.S. habitat once again.
"Holy, it's huge," said one student from Holy Cross as a civilian C-130 landed on the small runway in Shageluk Tuesday afternoon. Students and staff traveled 57 miles, or about two hours, on snow machine just to witness the wood bison's arrival.
It's hard to imagine there were more than a dozen adult wood bison on board the plane.
Sunday was the first day wood bison from the AWCC were loaded into specially made "bison boxes" and transported to Lynden Air Cargo in Anchorage.
Two flights a day carrying two bison boxes were flown to Shageluk from Sunday to Tuesday.
"People are like where's Shageluk on a map?" said Marlene Madros. "We're such a tiny little community."
less than 50
video at link
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United States
Kiribati
