A herd of 20 wood bison came home to Willow Lake Métis Nation in February. It’s been 120 years since the northeastern Alberta community heard the rumbling thunder of their hooves. 

The community fenced off 16 hectares of boreal forest for the herd. They will live wild on the land. 

Food and foundation

Bison, sometimes called buffalo, are the biggest land mammals in North America. More than 30 million bison once roamed the Great Plains from Mexico to the Northwest Territories.