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Bison turn back the clock on a patch of prairie http://apocadocs.com/s.pl?1242839689
Three years ago, 72 pure-blooded animals were introduced to the 181-square-kilometre refuge as part of a Parks Canada initiative to bring large herbivores to an area that hasn't felt bison hooves in more than 120 years.
Now, that little herd has become prolific beyond expectations.
"I've looked at bison populations across North America during my career and I've never seen a population adapt as well to a system as this one has," said Wes Olson, who oversees the herd for the park.... The landscape is changing in other ways and so is the wildlife. Officials hope endangered and threatened species will one day thrive.
Grass is being grazed in lengths ranging from barely picked through to golf-course groomed greens. Songbirds are lining their nests with shed bison fur, an ideal material for protecting fledglings from the cold and rain. The chicken-like sharp-tailed grouse has been dusting itself in buffalo wallows and using short green lawns as leks, or mating areas. Ideally, the endangered greater sage-grouse, known for its elaborate courtship rituals, will follow suit. There's also hope the new landscape will be hospitable to struggling birds, including the Sprague's pipit, long-billed curlew and burrowing owl.
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