Over 14 bison at Buffalo Pound Provincial Park in southern Saskatchewan are now being tracked electronically across a vast area of rolling hills. The park staff has equipped these animals with ear tags containing GPS technology. These solar-powered tags send signals to a nearby communications tower, which then relays the real-time location of the bison back to a computer program at the park’s visitor center every 15 minutes. Visitors to the center can view the bison’s whereabouts on a dashboard displayed on a TV screen.
Dave Bjarnason, the park manager, mentioned that Buffalo Pound is the sole provincial park in Saskatchewan that houses bison, present since 1972. The introduction of these tags took place in October 2024 to address the common visitor inquiry about the buffalo’s location.
Dale Gross, a grasslands ecologist working with Saskatchewan Parks, will utilize the GPS tags to study the grazing habits of the bison and their interaction with the environment. By analyzing the data, Gross aims to understand where the bison graze and how it affects their diet and habitat. This information will be crucial in managing the bison’s movement to promote healthy grass growth.
The research findings from studying bison behavior can also be beneficial for farms with cattle, helping them improve their foraging practices. Gross emphasized the significance of bison in the Prairie grassland ecology, attributing the fertility of the soil to their historical interactions with the land.
The GPS tracking system is also accessible through an app, currently limited to park staff, with plans to make it available to the public in the future. Bjarnason hopes that this technology can be used as an educational tool by groups such as schools, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation for these majestic animals in their natural habitat.
