Wood Buffalo National Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Wood Buffalo National Park | |
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IUCN Category II (National Park)
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| Location | Alberta & Northwest Territories, Canada |
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| Nearest city | Fort Smith |
| Coordinates | 59°23′27″N 112°59′11″W / 59.39083°N 112.98639°WCoordinates: 59°23′27″N 112°59′11″W / 59.39083°N 112.98639°W |
| Area | 44,807 km² |
| Established | 1922 |
| Governing body | Parks Canada |
| World Heritage Site | 1983 |
| Wood Buffalo National Park* | |
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| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
| State Party |  Canada |
| Type | Natural |
| Criteria | vii, ix, x |
| Reference | 256 |
| Region** | Europe and North America |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1983 (7th Session) |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO. |
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Wood Buffalo National Park, located in northeastern Alberta and southern Northwest Territories, is the largest national park in Canada at 44,807 km². The park was established in 1922 to protect the world's largest herd of free roaming Wood Bison, currently estimated at more than 5,000. It is the only known nesting site of whooping cranes.
The park ranges in elevation from 183 metres (600') at the Little Buffalo River to 945 metres (3,100') in the Caribou Mountains. The park headquarters is located in Fort Smith, with a smaller satellite office in Fort Chipewyan, Alberta. The park contains one of the world's largest fresh water deltas, the Peace-Athabasca Delta, formed by the Peace, Athabasca and Slave Rivers. It is also known for its karst sinkholes on the Northwest Territory side. The national park is also located directly north of the Athabasca Oil Sands.
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[edit] Conservation
Wood Buffalo National Park contains a large variety of wildlife species, such as moose, black bear, wolf, lynx, brown bear, snowshoe hare, sandhill crane, Wood Buffalo, ruffed grouse, and the garter snake, which form famous communal dens within the park.
Wood Buffalo Park contains the only natural nesting habitat for the critically endangered whooping crane. Known as Whooping Crane Summer Range, it is classified as a Ramsar site. It was identified through the International Biological Program. The range is a complex of contiguous water bodies, primarily lakes and various wetlands, such as marshes and bogs, but also includes streams and ponds.
[edit] World Heritage Site
This area was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 for the biological diversity of the Peace-Athabasca Delta, the world's largest inland delta, as well as the population of wild bison.
[edit] Transportation
Year-round access is available to Fort Smith by road on the Mackenzie Highway, which connects to Highway 5 near Hay River, Northwest Territories. Commercial flights are available to Fort Smith and Fort Chipewyan from Edmonton.[1] Winter access is also available using winter and ice roads from Fort McMurray through Fort Chipewyan.
[edit] Gallery
 Location and extent |
 Wood Buffalo (Bison bison athabascae) in Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada |
 Wood Bison |
 Marmot |
 Gros Beak Lake |
 American White Pelicans at Rapids of the Drowned (Slave River) |
 Beaver Lodge |
 Pine Lake |
[edit] See also
- National Parks of Canada
- List of National Parks of Canada
- List of Northwest Territories parks
- Mount Buffalo National Park, Australia
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wood Buffalo National Park |
- Parks Canada web site
- Park at UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Great Canadian Parks
- Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada (IUCN)
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