Wood Buffalo

Declared in 1922 specifically to protect the last great herd of wood bison (a subspecies distinct from the plains bison), Wood Buffalo is the largest national park in Canada — bigger than countries such as Switzerland or the Netherlands — and still holds the largest free-roaming bison herd in the world. It is also the only known natural nesting ground of the whooping crane, one of the most threatened birds in North America, whose world population fell to barely 21 individuals in the 1940s. It also holds the largest certified dark-sky preserve on the planet, an ideal sanctuary for watching the northern lights.