Wood Bison Herd to be Culled Because of Size Herd scheduled to
be released into the wild in 2014 PORTAGE - The North American
wood bison was extinct in Alaska for more than 100 years. Now
their numbers are thriving at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation
Center (AWCC). So much so, the herd is getting too big and the
Alaska Department of Fish and Game says it has to cull ten of
the animals. “We're disappointed. I think Fish and Game is
disappointed as well. No one wants to see it come to that but
the reality is for the overall health of the heard here, there's
only so much land and resources we can dedicate to these
animals,” said Ethan Tyler from AWCC. The herd is part of the
Wood Bison Restoration program that started in 2003. The animals
were scheduled to be released into the wild a couple years ago
but administrative red tape with the Endangered Species Act
prevented that. "These animals should be released. An animal on
the endangered species act doesn't need to be behind a fence in
Portage. It needs to be bac