Wood Buffalo National Park

Wood Buffalo National Park
Salt plains with samphire vegetation (Salicornia rubra)
Coordinates: 59 ° 21 ′ 20.1 ″  N , 112 ° 56 ′ 22 ″  W.
Location:	Alberta , Canada
Next city:	Fort Smith
Surface:	44,807 km²
Founding:	1922
Visitors:	3,340 (2016/2017)
Address:	Wood Buffalo National Park Box 750 Fort Smith, NWT Tel. [phone]

The Wood Buffalo National Park ( English Wood Buffalo National Park of Canada , French Parc national du Canada Wood Buffalo ) was founded in 1922 on the border between the province of Alberta and the Northwest Territories and is Canada's largest national park with an area of ​​44,802 km² . In 1983 it was recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The area was also fully designated as Dark Sky Preserve ( Wood Buffalo Dark Sky Reserve ) in 2013 , making it the world's largest light protection area .

landscape

Evening mood at Pine Lake

The national park is mainly characterized by the rivers of the Athabasca River and the Slave River, which border it in the east, as well as the Peace River , which flows through it from west to east, and the south-western tip of Lake Athabasca . The river delta of Slave, Peace and Athabasca forms a labyrinth of rivers, lakes (including Lake Claire ) and swamps and is one of the largest freshwater deltas in Canada. The 300 km long, east-west oriented Lake Athabasca has a high water quality despite the pollution from residues from uranium extraction on the north bank.

The area of ​​the national park is largely covered with coniferous and mixed forests. In the southwest of the small town of Fort Smith , the most important gypsum karst area in North America extends west of the Slave River . There are hundreds of caves, sinkholes and karst springs, as well as an extensive network of underground rivers. Some caves have collapsed, and so characteristic sinkholes have emerged, which make the labyrinth easily recognizable. The most spectacular sinkhole has developed into Pine Lake , which is located 60 kilometers south of Fort Smith directly on the gravel road to Peace Point (on the Peace River). In the northeast part of the national park there are plains covered with a salt crust; they emerged from the drying up of water bodies, which, laden with subterranean salt residues from a prehistoric sea, pour from springs onto the surface.

climate

The national park is located on the edge of the permafrost zone; however, the summer months of July and August are hot and dry.

fauna

Sinkhole

Two pairs of rhino pelicans

Wood bison (Wood Buffalo National Park)

Rhinoceros pelicans at the Rapids of the Drowned

About 300 animal species, including around 250 bird species, were counted in the area of ​​the national park. Thousands of migratory birds cross the region on their north and south flights. The world's last nesting sites for whooping cranes ( Grus americana ) are here and the northernmost colony of the rhinoceros pelican ( Pelecanus erythrorhynchos , American White Pelican ) is located on the rapids of the Slave River between Fort Smith and Fort Fitzgerald .

The park was founded to protect the nesting sites of the whooping cranes, which are threatened with extinction, and the last remaining wood bison ( Bos bison athabascae ). Today it is estimated the stock of bison (forest and additionally from the former Buffalo National Park exposed plains bison , which have mixed frequently) to about 6,000 animals; they now form the world's largest group of wild bison. There are also several packs of wolves , black bears , grizzlies , lynxes , elks , arctic foxes , beavers , marmots and many other animal species. Even bald eagles build their nests in treetops.

flora

In terms of its vegetation, the park is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in North America. A variety of swamp and prairie plant species thrive in the coniferous and mixed forests and on the saline plains.

particularities

In 2007, while evaluating satellite images, the Canadian ecologist Jean Thie accidentally found the longest known beaver dam at 850 meters in the south of Lake Claire. A comparative photo from 1975, on which only a few small spots of beaver activity can be seen, shows that several generations of beavers have built this dam and continue to maintain it. The coordinates are NS = 58.271667 EW = -112.25166758 .

Tourist notices

The best starting point for visiting Wood Buffalo National Park is Fort Smith , which can be reached by vehicle on a branch of the Mackenzie Highway via Hay River or by plane from Edmonton and Yellowknife .

literature

• Ludwig N. Carbyn et al .: Wolfes, Bison and the Dynamics Related to the Peace-Athabasca Delta in Canada's Wood Buffalo National Park, University of Alberta Edmonton, 1993 ISBN 0-919058-83-3
• Michaela Schmid: Canada: Wood Buffalo National Park - Canoe Tours , Conrad Stein Verlag Kronshagen, 1998 ISBN 3-89392-159-1

Web links

Commons : Wood Buffalo National Park  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Wood Buffalo National Park , on Parks Canada , (English, French)
• Entry on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).
• Wood Buffalo National Park ( English, French ) In: The Canadian Encyclopedia .
• Fort Smith as the base for the park

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The longest beaver dam in the World by Jean Thie, accessed October 25, 2015; Item contains many photos