Wood bison have been added to the NWT List of Species at Risk as a Threatened species, in accordance with direction received from the NWT Conference of Management Authorities (CMA) and the Species at Risk (NWT) Act.
The term of the listing is 10 years. Adding a species to the NWT List of Species at Risk does not result in any automatic prohibitions or protections for the species or their habitat. Listing a species as Threatened triggers a requirement to build a recovery strategy for the species within two years.
Quick facts:
Conference of Management Authorities (CMA):
- Consists of the wildlife co-management boards and governments that share management responsibility for the conservation and recovery of species at risk in the NWT.
- Makes decisions on listing, conservation, management, and recovery of species that may be at risk of disappearing from the NWT.
- In the case of wood bison, management authority is shared by the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Tlicho Government, and the Wek'eezhii Renewable Resources Board.
Wood bison:
- Wood bison face a number of serious threats in the NWT; in particular, infectious disease (anthrax, tuberculosis, brucellosis), predation, human-caused mortality, and habitat loss.
- In addition, their overall population size in the NWT is quite small (~2,500 animals total) and there is clear evidence of population decline.
Additional species information and supporting documentation is available at: www.nwtspeciesatrisk.ca/CMA/SarList