Wood Bison in a Clearing

(Watercolour on paper, 11 x 14 inches), 2023

The wood bison (Bison bison athabascae) is a distinct northern subspecies of the American bison and is the largest Canadian terrestrial mammal. Its original range included much of the boreal forest regions of Alaska, Yukon, western Northwest Territories, northeastern British Columbia, northern Alberta, and northwestern Saskatchewan. The wood bison's population was devastated by hunting, loss of habitat, and other factors. By the early 20th century, they were regarded as extremely rare.  In 1988, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada changed the subspecies' conservation status from "endangered" to "threatened," where it remains.