With Indigenous Peoples’ Day Monday, October 13, we look at the herds of bison many tribes relied on that were nearly wiped out.
Today, Department of Labor lands currently support 17 bison herds in 12 states, for a total of approximately 10,000 bison over 4.6 million acres.Private bison owners held about 360,000 bison.
Conservation success
Less than 100 years ago, the American bison was teetering on the verge of extinction. By the beginning of the 20th century, the species’ numbers fell from herds of roughly four million to less than 1,000 individuals. The impact on Native Americans was devastating.In 1905, William Hornaday, Theodore Roosevelt, and others formed the American Bison Society (ABS) to help save bison from extinction — the first national effort to save an American wildlife species. Hornaday, the first president of the Wildlife Conservation Society, saw how the animal was decimated and wrote, “The Extermination of the American Bison” in 1889. His efforts began to rally support for the animal and the first protective legislation was enacted in 1894.
The American bison was named the national mammal of the United States on May 9, 2016.
Bison facts
A few details about North America’s largest mammal.
Bison or buffalo? Bison belong to the Bovidae family, which includes a lot of hoofed animals and some are buffaloes. Technically, buffalo species are only in Asia and Africa.Weight: Males up to 2,000 pounds, females weigh up to 1,000 pounds.Height: Males can stand 6 feet tall, females reach 4-5 feet tall.Calves: They are nicknamed “red dogs” because their hides are reddish in color when born. They can weight 30-70 pounds at birth.Lifespan: The average lifespan is 10-20 years.Senses: Bison are nearsighted but have excellent senses of smell and hearing.Ancient bison: Bison antiquus, was taller, had longer horns, and was 25% more massive than living American bison (Bison bison). It was roughly 7.5 feet tall and 15 feet long, weighing approximately 3,500 pounds.
Yellowstone National Park is the only place in the U.S. where bison have continuously lived since prehistoric times.
What’s a “red dog”? It’s a baby bison. Bison calves tend to be born from late March through May and are orange-red in color.
Home on the rangeJust like cows and elk, bison have four stomachs. Their four-chambered, ruminant digestive system allows for the absorption of cellulose – a fibrous plant material that is hard to break down.It takes about 80 hours for grass to pass through their digestive systems.
You can learn much more about bison on the National Park Service site here.
How different cultures used the bison in the 1800s
As great changes came to the West, circumstances led to the near-extinction of the bison. High-powered rifles were efficient tools to kill large numbers of animals from a distance. Mass markets arose for various parts of the bison, and railroads enabled transportation of these raw materials to markets in the east. Professional hide hunters were very successful, driving the bison to the point of extinction by the early 1880s. Due to the efforts of a handful of concerned individuals, small numbers of bison were preserved in Yellowstone National Park, in 1872, the park protected its remaining two dozen bison.
Sources: National Park Service, Archpark.org, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Top illustrations by JEFF GOERTZEN, staff artist
