This area was designated in 1983 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for the biological diversity of the Peace-Athabasca Delta, and for the population of wild bison.

The designation helps preserve nighttime ecology for the park's large populations of bats, night hawks and owls, as well as providing opportunities for visitors to experience the northern lights.

They are thought to have migrated here from the east within the timeframe of recorded history, as most Algonquian-speaking peoples are along the Atlantic coast, from Canada and south through much of the United States.

[citation needed] Explorer Peter Pond is believed to have passed through the region in 1785, likely the first European to do so, followed by Alexander Mackenzie three years later.

The Métis people, descendants initially of European traders and indigenous women, developed as another major ethnic group in the region.

Established in 1922, the park was created on Crown land acquired through Treaty 8 between Canada and the local First Nations.

The park completely surrounds several Indian reserves such as Peace Point and ʔejëre Kʼelnı Kuę́ (also called Hay Camp).

[13] Since that time park officials have tried to undo this damage, making successive culls of diseased animals.

Between 1951 and 1967, 4000 bison were killed and 910 tonnes (2 million pounds) of meat were sold from a special abattoir built at Hay Camp.

[13] Local governance within the Alberta portion of Wood Buffalo National Park was introduced on January 1, 1967, with the incorporation of an improvement district.

[15] In 1983, a 21-year lease was granted to Canadian Forest Products Ltd. to log a 50,000-hectare area of Wood Buffalo National Park.

Before the trial commenced in 1992, Parks Canada acquiesced and recognized that the lease was invalid and unauthorized by the provisions of the act.

[17] In June 2019, UNESCO expressed concerns about the management of the park's ecological health and Indigenous usage, noting decline in water quality.

[20] Wood Buffalo National Park contains a large variety of wildlife species, including American black bears, American martens, bald eagles, Canada lynxes, great grey owls, hawks, marmots, North American beavers, Northwestern wolves, peregrine falcons, red foxes, ruffed grouses, sandhill cranes, snowshoe hares, snowy owls, Western moose, whooping cranes, wolverines, wood bisons, and the world's northernmost population of Red-sided Garter snakes, which form communal dens within the park.

Grizzly bears, North American cougars, feral horses, and muskoxen have been recorded within and in the vicinity of the park.

The range is a complex of contiguous water bodies, primarily lakes and various wetlands, such as marshes and bogs, but also includes streams and ponds.

In 2007, the world's largest beaver dam – about 850-metre (2,790 ft) in length – was discovered in the park using satellite imagery.

They are more true to the original types than the preserved herds at Elk Island National Park and Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary.