Conservation Push Brings Bison Back to Mexico's Chihuahua State Alfredo Corchado - The Dallas Morning News
go to original January 28, 2013

Crossing Borders: Bringing Bison Back to Mexico (natureconservancy)

JANOS, Mexico — The surprise isn’t so much that a herd of wild bison from South Dakota roams the prairie here but that the great beasts look as if they never left, placidly grazing on the yellow grasslands.

Tall and mighty, the bison, also known as buffalo, once roamed North America by the millions. Now they’re back in this state of Chihuahua, bordering Texas, as part of an effort by the U.S. and Mexican governments and the Nature Conservancy aimed at restoring the magnificent animals to lands from which they were hunted to near-extinction in the 1800s.

“They bring back memories of better days, of open skies and beautiful prairie lands,” said local rancher Ángel Martínez, 67, describing the Janos area when he was a boy. “Magnificent, aren’t they? All standing among us like they belong here as much as we do. I never imagined I’d see this again.”

Mexico is replete with beauty, from its endless miles of beaches to the vast Chihuahuan desert with its mountains upon mountains. Over the past few years, particularly under former President Felipe Calderón, Mexico made strides in raising awareness of protecting its natural resources, ecological experts say, something they hope continues under the new administration of Enrique Peña Nieto.

“We believe the new administration will be able to acknowledge the good and valuable steps that we have made as a nation, specifically on our international conservation commitments, policies and environmental regulations, and take it from there,” said Rosario Álvarez, director of the Nature Conservancy’s Mexico and Northern Central America Program. “We all need to work together to secure our natural capital for the sake of all forms of life and the future generations of Mexicans.”

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