Greg Fuhr, vice president of mining and extraction with Syncrude Canada, said Friday that the bison herd on the company's Mildred Lake property is doing well, even with fires raging nearby. A vicious wildfire nicknamed "the beast" hasn't caused too much trouble for nearly 200 beasts that roam a reclaimed oilsands mine north of Fort McMurray. Syncrude brought the bison to its property in 1993 to help it learn about how the reclaimed land would support large mammals. The herd, co-managed with the Fort McKay First Nation, lives on a depleted oilsands mine that's been filled in and planted with vegetation. New calves born recentlyThe full-time manager of the Beaver Creek Wood Bison Ranch has also flown in periodically, most recently on Friday.

Source: CBC News May 20, 2016 18:41 UTC