Fun Facts About Wood Buffalo National Park at Fort McMurray

Wood Buffalo National Park is the largest park in Canada and covers an area of ​​11,070,000 acres. To put it in perspective, Wood Buffalo National Park covers more territory than the entire country of Switzerland. It is found in northeastern Alberta and in the southern part of the Northwest Territories. It is appreciated by the residents of Fort McMurray. In the summer, many families leave their furnished suites at Fort McMurray and head to the park to see the incredible natural scenery and diverse wildlife. The park is a UNESCO World Heritage site, making it the second largest protected area in the world. The park is very unique, here are some fun facts you didn’t know about Wood Buffalo National Park.

Wood Buffalo National Park is home to the endangered fried crane. It is the tallest bird in North America, with a height of 1.5 meters and a wingspan of 2.3 meters. Its lifespan is estimated to be between 22 and 24 years, in the wild. The whooping crane was declared an endangered species beginning in 1967 due to unregulated hunting and habitat loss. They are just one of two species of cranes in North America. The species is protected in Wood Buffalo National Park, which is the only place where the whooping crane can be found. When fried cranes hatch, they are cinnamon brown in color, but as they mature they turn white with a red crown and a long, dark pointed bill.

In 1982, Wood Buffalo National Park received recognition from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for protecting the Peace Athabasca-Delta and the huge nesting area for cranes. Both sites were designated as Ramsar sites under the Ramsar convention, which focuses on the identification and protection of critical habitats for migratory birds.

Wood Buffalo National Park has an extraordinarily diverse landscape; its landscape consists of: boreal forest, salt plains and karst gypsum landforms. The boreal forest part is the most accessible and popular part of the park. Some of the trees you will find in the boreal forest include: firs, pines, poplars, and poplars.

The park is home to hard-to-see species like black bears, wolves, elk, foxes, beavers, and sandhill cranes. You could visit the park every day and still not see these elusive animals.

Wood Buffalo National Park has the largest beaver dam in the world that remained intact for many years until a researcher noticed it when he was looking at satellite images. Park staff were shocked when one day they received a call from the BBC that they learned of the beaver dam through the researcher’s website.

The beaver dam is located in a remote and quiet area between the highlands of Birch Mountain and the Peace Athabasca delta. It is an ideal place for beavers, as the boreal forest provides them with the wood they need to build the dams and runoff from the highlands provides them with plenty of water.