Bison… what a majestic beast. Big, strong, powerful… for the most part, they leave you alone. But stuck between two cars on an icy Alaskan road, they’ll escape by any means necessary… even through you.
Sounds kind of horrifying, doesn’t it?
Yellowstone National Park is actually the only place in the country where wild bison live, and have lived, for thousands of years. Just about every other herd in the country was wiped out from overhunting (many have since be reintroduced), but the Yellowstone bison are the OGs.
By the early 1900s, there were only about 30 wild plains bison left hiding out in the park. Park managers bought about 20 from private ranches to introduce into the park and build a second population. And thanks to what began as a small, but important conservation effort, the population bounced back to over 1,300 by the 1930s.
Fast forward to today and the park’s population is usually somewhere around 5,000 animals.
Of course, managing a massive herd of 2,000-pound beasts isn’t exactly easy. Between wandering out of the park, managing traffic, and moron-park goers who are hellbent on getting up close, not to mention predators and disease… it can be a lot to maintain. When the herds get too large for the park’s ecosystem to handle, some of the bison are safely relocated to Tribal lands through a conservation transfer program.
While Yellowstone might be the most famous, but it’s not the only place you can find them…
Alaskan Bison
Alaska has a small population of bison, and there’s actually two totally different types of bison roaming the state today.
The most famous herds in Alaska, such as the Delta Junction herd, are called Plains bison. They’re the same kind you see in Yellowstone, and elsewhere in the Lower 48, but they aren’t native to the state at all.
Back in the 20s, a couple dozen were shipped up to Alaska to establish a hunting population (as if Alaska didn’t already have enough species to hunt). But they adapted well to the harsh Alaskan environment, and have since expanded into several different herds. Today, drawing a tag for a Delta bison is one of the most sought-after hunting permits in Alaska.
Wood bison, on the other hand, are the true Alaskan natives. Significantly larger than Plains bison, they were completely wiped out in Alaska by the early 1900s due to poaching and environment destruction.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game successfully reintroduced a herd of 130 Wood bison back into the remote Innoko River area in 2015. They remain heavily protected as biologists continue to monitor the herd for growth.
But if you want to see some Alaskan bison in action, this video might be one of the most jaw-dropping.
In Delta Junction, Alaska, right next to the Canadian border, winter snow and ice will generally keep wildlife on main roads and trails. Naturally, that leads to a number of run-ins with people. As you can see from video footage, a separate driver steps out of his car to record a number of bison surrounding another vehicle in the middle of the road.
It appears the bison lose interest and start walking away, towards the camera.
However, they stop for a minute, and spooked by the lights, they turn back around and charge right back at the other car. But instead of going around the vehicle as most bison do, they went right over the top.
The poetic videographer described the chilling scene:
“Bison are beasts of the chill night, seemingly ancient spirits transcending from a prehistoric time… stampede across the canvas of civilized society.
Deep crusty snow forces the bison to remain on the icy roadways and put Alaskan motorists at serious risk. A cautious stationary car gets demolished when the buffalo herd turns rogue and tramples all in its path.
The eerie sounds of their breath and ‘calls’ gives a mysterious ambience to the crisp night air as these beasts, under the cover of darkness traverse the country side in search of food and often times crush everything in their path.”
Well said…
The two drivers have an exchange towards the end of the video:
“How do you like my car?”
“Yeah, what happened? I heard that…”
“The buffalo took out my car…”
“Where did they hit you? They ran right up your hood?”
“They ran right over me.”
“Holy…”
Yup… that’s pretty much all you can say. Holy…
Welcome to Alaska, dude.