 By the early 1900s, they were regarded as extremely rare or perhaps nearly extinct.However, in 1957 a relatively pure herd of about 200 was discovered in an isolated part of Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Alberta, Canada although gene flows likely occurred elsewhere within the National Park when the herd was discovered and this herd unlikely remained completely isolated and didn't preserve pure genes.This herd has since recovered to a total population around 2500, largely as a result of conservation efforts by Canadian government agencies.In 1988, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada changed the subspecies' conservation status from "endangered" to "threatened," where it remains.