The Wood Bison is uniquely Canadian, as it is only in Canada that it can be found in the wild. Though 200,000 Wood Bison once prospered in the woodlands of the Canadian West, only mere hundreds survived by the early 1900s because of overhunting and human encroachment. Thanks to the work of Parks Canada in Wood Buffalo and Elk Island National Parks, the nearly extinct Wood Bison population has bounced back to number more than 10,000. The introduction of Wood Bison at Chitek Lake and Lake Winnipegossis in the 1990s is also helping expand this precious animal's range to Manitoba. The coin features a wood bison facing left. The text underneath reads "CANADA," the face value "25 CENTS," and the year of issue, "2011."
