Prince Albert’s many
lakes, streams and marshlands support abundant
wildlife and are recognized as being one of
the few places left in the world where timber
wolves live undisturbed. The park protects badgers,
coyotes, black bears, otters, elk, white-tailed
deer, moose, loons, hare, foxes, lynx, caribou,
osprey and eagles. There are 195 species of
birds including the second largest breeding
colony in Canada of the rare white pelican.
Double-crested cormorants, Canada geese, the
great blue heron, hawks, owls, and a high density
of breeding dabbling ducks, particularly mallards,
shovellers and pintails, inhabit the park.
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The park’s bison herd
has national significance as it represents the
only free- ranging population of plains bison
in a Canadian national park. In the 1700Ęs,
plains bison were estimated to number in the
millions. By 1870, they had been all but eliminated
primarily as a military strategy to subdue the
Indians in the United States who were dependent
on them. In 1906, the Canadian government purchased
a small herd located on a cattle ranch in Montana
for $150 000 and brought them to Elk Island,
Alberta. In 1969, fifty plains bison were released
north of Prince Albert and of these the six
that moved into the protected area founded the
present-day herd of 220 individuals.
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