"Back in the USSR !"

[uniface]

Well, back in Russia, anyway.

2006 Report :

As the first step in turning the tundra back into a more steppe like grassland ecosystem, Canadian bison have been transported to Siberia where they have been extinct for 5,000 years. 30 Canadian wood buffalo calves have been moved from their home at Elk Island National Park east of Edmonton to the 194,000-acre Lenskiye-Stolby Nature Park, aka Pleistocene Park, in the Republic of Sakha in north east Russia.

The calves were prepped for the 12-14 hour flight with a regimen of good nutrition and electrolytes (hay, alfalfa cubes, molasses loaded with vitamins, and a sort of bison "Gatorade"). A supply of their familiar pelleted alfalfa diet was sent along with them to allow a gradual, low stress transition to local food. The plan is for them to stay at the Park for a year under study and observation, then 24 of them will be released into the Verkhoyansk Range north of Yakutsk. The other 6 will remain at the park.

Bison World News

Update :

Thirty Canadian-born woolly bovines have now spent three winters at the Lensky Stolby Nature Park, 100 kilometres south of Yakutsk. Local herdsmen say they've settled in nicely.

“They're good at enduring the cold and they've adapted extremely well. They look happy here and I've become really attached to these beautiful animals,” bison herder Sergey says.

A good indication of how well these bison are adapting to their new environment is their ability to reproduce. Already six babies have been born into this herd – a sure sign that they're thriving in their former homeland.

Wild and woolly: Canadian bison thrive in Siberia — RT

[touchnova]

Interesting idea as the climate was different 5,000 years ago (Altithermal). At least the critters aren't carnivores though...not to go political, but I live just north of Yellowstone and our regional elk herd has dropped from 17,000+ to less than 5,000 since wolves were reintroduced in 1995...probably the opposite effect they're going for with bison in Siberia. :-) Good read man, thanks for postin' up.

[Buckeye]

Awesome! my favorite hoofed animal....
Why do they want grassland though?

[uniface]

Animals alter the landscape.

Take the elephants away, and the scrub grows up, making what had been savannah uninhabitable for other critters that need it.

Bring back the elephants & they keep the scrub eaten back, so there's grass for the others . . .

[ghost recon]

That's good news for those wooly bovines, back to the motherland. They should have it made in Siberia.

[Steve Valentine]

"They look happy here and I've become really attached to these beautiful animals,” bison herder Sergey says. "As a matter of fact I've named this one Martha and we've been dating for 2 years now. We're very happy."



























Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[mootsman]

Originally Posted by ghost recon

That's good news for those wooly bovines, back to the motherland. They should have it made in Siberia.

Which would put them in relatively rare company. As W.C. fields said repeatedly in The Fatal Glass of Beer “It ain’t a fit night out for man or beast.”