Man finds ancient bison skull in Alberta creek

Dominic Boon, a fly fisherman in Alberta, Canada, made an unexpected discovery while fishing in a creek. During an unusually rainy June, heavy rainfall had washed away banks and brought fresh debris downstream. As Boon approached a strange object sticking out of the water, he pulled out his phone to film the moment. Upon closer inspection, he saw horns and immediately believed it was a bison. He pulled the skull from the creek and later shared the video on his Instagram account, @dominicboon_.

The following day, Boon had the skull identified as a bison cranium. The discovery raised questions about its age. Boon contacted Dr. Chris Jass, curator of Quaternary Studies at the Royal Alberta Museum, who confirmed it was a bison cranium. The curator estimated the skull could be up to 5,000 years old, but the exact age remains unknown. The youngest possible age is 150 years. The skull's preservation over such a long period can be attributed to rapid burial, which protects remains from scavenging, decomposition, and weathering, according to the U.S. National Park Service.

Boon plans to take the skull to the Royal Alberta Museum, about three hours away, for further examination. Experts may measure, weigh, scan, and photograph the skull to learn more about it. The discovery is significant because bison populations in North America have drastically declined. According to the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) Northern Alberta, plains bison once numbered over 30 million across North America but had nearly vanished in Canada by the late 1880s due to overexploitation, habitat loss, and disease. Wood bison also suffered a steep decline, with their Canadian population falling from over 170,000 to as few as 200. Today, Alberta has an estimated 2,800 free-ranging wild wood bison, while plains bison occupy less than 1 percent of their historic range in Canada.