More room to roam for Daniels Park bison

Several adult and baby bison rest in a pasture at Daniels Park. The herd will soon have additional space to roam in the Backcountry Wilderness Area as part of a conservation effort to restore bison to the landscape.

The bison at Daniels Park will soon have an additional 160 acres, about the size of 143 football fields, to roam in the Highlands Ranch Backcountry Wilderness Area. The new pasture was created through a partnership between the Backcountry Wilderness Area Fund, Denver Mountain Parks and the Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance. The project is part of a conservation effort to bring bison back to a landscape where they have been missing for more than 100 years and once helped shape the grasslands.

“We don’t have an exact year as to when bison were last on this landscape, but I estimate it was well more than 150 years ago,” said Shannon Dennison, director of Denver Mountain Parks, which maintains the herd.

The Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance received a $300,000 grant to fund the project.

“Bison grazing patterns can increase plant diversity and create habitat variation,” said Mark Giebel, director for the Backcountry Wilderness Area for the Highlands Ranch Community Association.

The new pasture includes fencing built to hold the bison in while still allowing animals like elk, bears and mountain lions to move freely through the area. The Sanctuary Golf Course is also helping by providing water for the animals.

The Daniels Park herd usually has 24 to 40 bison, depending on how many calves are born each year. Researchers are using GPS ear tags to track where they go. “Once we get the animals on the property, hopefully everything goes smoothly,” Mark said. “We’ll be able to track where they’re going and learn from this experience to better understand how they explore a new pasture.”

Mark says the Backcountry Wilderness Area plans on having special utility terrain vehicle tours to give people a closer look at the bison in their natural environment. The herd will also be visible from a vantage point in Daniels Park.

“We’ll open the gates, but whether the bison choose to walk through them is entirely up to them,” Shannon said. “We don’t actually know when they’re going to decide to start exploring the new area.”