The bison have roamed free for five years under the close and watchful eye of a Parks Canada team and cultural monitoring by the Stoney Nakoda Nation, which calls the park area Mînî Rhpa Mâkoche.Banff National Park, with its full suite of native large carnivores, represents a unique and rare opportunity where this can still happen."Monitoring efforts There were some stakeholder concerns about the wild herd roving free: - Some were concerned about possible conflicts with visitors and backcountry hikers.- Cattle ranchers worried about bison carrying disease or parasites wandering into their livestock grazing allotments, many of which were about 20 kilometres from the bison reintroduction zone.More is being done to research the effects of this herd on the Banff National Park ecosystem, but according to the Parks Canada report, bison reintroduction in other jurisdictions has already proved to be a positive for other wildlife, soil and vegetation."