The Plains bison (''Bison bison bison'') is one of two
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
/
ecotype
In evolutionary ecology, an ecotype,Greek: ''οίκος'' = home and ''τύπος'' = type, coined by Göte Turesson in 1922 sometimes called ecospecies, describes a genetically distinct geographic variety, population, or race within a species, ...
s of the
American bison
The American bison (''Bison bison'') is a species of bison native to North America. Sometimes colloquially referred to as American buffalo or simply buffalo (a different clade of bovine), it is one of two extant species of bison, alongside the ...
, the other being the
wood bison
The wood bison (''Bison bison athabascae'') or mountain bison (often called the wood buffalo or mountain buffalo), is a distinct northern subspecies or ecotype of the American bison. Its original range included much of the boreal forest regions ...
(''B. b. athabascae'').
A natural population of Plains bison survives in
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...
(the
Yellowstone Park bison herd
The Yellowstone Park bison herd is a bison herd in Yellowstone National Park. It is probably the oldest and largest public bison herd in the United States, estimated in 2020 to be 4,800 bison. The bison in the Yellowstone Park bison herd are Am ...
consisting of an estimated 4,800 bison) and multiple smaller reintroduced herds of bison in many places in the United States as well as southern portions of the
Canadian Prairies
The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie Provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provin ...
.
Near-extinction and reintroduction of herds
At one time, at least 25 million
American bison
The American bison (''Bison bison'') is a species of bison native to North America. Sometimes colloquially referred to as American buffalo or simply buffalo (a different clade of bovine), it is one of two extant species of bison, alongside the ...
were spread across the United States and Canada. However, by the late 1880s, the total number of bison in the United States had been reduced to fewer than 600. Most of these were collected onto various private ranches, and the last known free-roaming population of bison consisted of fewer than 30 in the area which later became Yellowstone National Park. Although farmers and ranchers considered bison to be a nuisance, some people were concerned about the demise of this North American icon, so individual landowners and
zoos
A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes.
The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zool ...
took steps to protect them. Some people saved bison with the express purpose of ranching or hunting them (see
Antelope Island bison herd
The Antelope Island bison herd is a semi–free-ranging population of American bison (''Bison bison, ''buffalo) in Antelope Island State Park in Great Salt Lake, Utah. Bison were introduced to Antelope Island in 1893. The herd is significant ...
). Others such as the
American Bison Society
The American Bison Society (ABS) was founded in 1905 to help save the bison from extinction and raise public awareness about the species by pioneering conservationists and sportsmen including Ernest Harold Baynes (the Society's first secretary), ...
were also formed with the idea of saving the species and reintroducing them to natural range. Plains bison have since been reintroduced into a number of locations in North America. Five main foundation herds of American bison supplied animals intended to save them from extinction.
The northernmost introduction occurred in 1928 when the Alaska Game Commission brought bison to the area of present-day
Delta Junction
Delta Junction ( uk, Делта-Джанкшен, Delta Dzhankshen) is a city in the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 958, up from 840 in 2000. The 2018 estimate was down to 931. T ...
. Bison taken from this transplant were also introduced to other
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
n locations, including
Farewell and
Chitina
Chitina (Ahtna language, Ahtna Athabascan Tsedi Na < ''tsedi'' "copper" + ''na'' "river") is a census-designated place (CDP) in Copper River Census Area, Alaska, Copper River Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 ...
. The Delta Junction herd prospered the most, with a population of several hundred throughout the late 20th century. This herd is popular with hunters interested in hundreds of pounds of high-quality meat, but has been a problem for farming operations in the area. Though American bison generally prefer grasslands and plains habitats, they are quite adaptable and live in conditions ranging from desert, as in the case of the
Henry Mountains bison herd
The Henry Mountains bison herd, numbering 250 to 400 bison, is one of only four free-roaming and genetically-pure herds on public lands in North America. The other three herds are the Yellowstone Park bison herd which was the ancestral herd for the ...
, to forested areas, such as those of the Yellowstone Park bison herd; yet, they are all of the same subspecies ''Bison bison bison''. Currently, over 500,000 bison are spread over the United States and Canada. However, most of these are on private ranches, and some of them have small amounts of hybridized cattle genes. Significant public bison herds that do not appear to have hybridized domestic cattle genes are the Yellowstone Park, the Henry Mountains, the
Custer State Park
Custer State Park is a South Dakota State Park and wildlife reserve in the Black Hills, United States. The park is South Dakota's largest and first state park, named after Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer. The park covers an area of over of v ...
, the
Wind Cave
Wind Cave National Park is an American national park located north of the town of Hot Springs in western South Dakota. Established on January 3, 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt, it was the sixth national park in the U.S. and the first cave ...
, and the
Wood Buffalo National Park
Wood Buffalo National Park is the largest National Parks of Canada, national park of Canada at . It is located in northeastern Alberta and the southern Northwest Territories. Larger in area than Switzerland, it is the second-largest national park ...
bison herds and subsidiary herds descended from it in Canada.
Park officials transferred Plains bison from
Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge
Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge is located in the U.S. state of Nebraska and includes 19,131 acres (77.42 km2). The refuge borders the Niobrara National Scenic River on the west and is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ...
to
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Theodore Roosevelt National Park is an American national park of the badlands in western North Dakota comprising three geographically separated areas. Honoring U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, it is the only American national park named direct ...
's South Unit in 1956 and its North Unit in 1962 for population increase.
![Plains Bison Buffalo (14958327875)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Plains_Bison_Buffalo_%2814958327875%29.jpg)
In 1969, Plains bison from Elk Island National Park were released into
Prince Albert National Park
Prince Albert National Park encompasses in central Saskatchewan, Canada and is located north of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Saskatoon. Though declared a National parks of Canada, national park March 24, 1927, official opening ceremonies weren't ...
in
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
, creating the Sturgeon River bison herd. At a population around 300 animals, they form a free herd able to wander where they please. The bison are spread throughout Prince Albert National Park's southwestern corner, as well as some crown and private land in the area.
In 2006, Plains bison from
Elk Island National Park
Elk Island National Park is a national park in Alberta, Canada, that played an important part in the conservation of the Plains bison. The park is administered by the Parks Canada Agency. This "island of conservation" is east of Edmonton, alo ...
in
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
were released into Saskatchewan's
Grasslands National Park
Grasslands National Park (French: ') is a Canadian national park located near the village of Val Marie, Saskatchewan, and one of 44 national parks and park reserves in Canada's national park system (though one of only two in Saskatchewan its ...
. This marks the first time Plains bison have wandered the
shortgrass prairie
The shortgrass prairie is an ecosystem located in the Great Plains of North America. The two most dominant grasses in the shortgrass prairie are blue grama (''Bouteloua gracilis'') and buffalograss (''Bouteloua dactyloides''), the two less domina ...
s of Canada since their near-extinction at the turn of the 20th century. According to the national agency Parks Canada, the entire breeding population of these wild and "semiwild" bison are the descendants of just eight individuals that survived the period of near-extinction, due to overhunting and tuberculosis infecting the herd.
A herd of about 650 of these animals lives in, and can be seen at, the
Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge
Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, located in southwestern Oklahoma near Lawton, has protected unique wildlife habitats since 1901 and is the oldest managed wildlife facility in the United States Fish and Wildlife Service system. The refuge's l ...
near
Lawton, Oklahoma
Lawton is a city in and the county seat of Comanche County, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Ce ...
. The herd was started in 1907 with stock from the New York Zoological Park, now known as the
Bronx Zoo
The Bronx Zoo (also historically the Bronx Zoological Park and the Bronx Zoological Gardens) is a zoo within Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York. It is one of the largest zoos in the United States by area and is the largest metropolitan zoo in ...
and located in the
Bronx Park
Bronx Park is a public park along the Bronx River, in the Bronx, New York City. The park is bounded by Southern Boulevard to the southwest, Webster Avenue to the northwest, Gun Hill Road to the north, Bronx Park East to the east, and East 180 ...
. Fifteen animals were shipped to Oklahoma, where bison had already become extinct due to excessive hunting and
overharvesting
Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term app ...
by non-native commercial buffalo hunters from 1874 to 1878. Some of these specimens have been released in other areas of the United States, such as
Paynes Prairie
Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park is a Florida State Park, encompassing a savanna in Alachua County, Florida lying between Micanopy and Gainesville. It is also a U.S. National Natural Landmark. It is crossed by both I-75 and U.S. 441 (which ha ...
in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
.
![American Bison skeleton](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/American_Bison_skeleton.jpg)
Only one Southern Plains bison herd was established in
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. A remnant of the last of this
relict
A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon.
Biology
A relict (or relic) is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas.
Geology and geomorphology
In geology, a r ...
herd had been saved in 1876. "Molly" Goodnight had encouraged her rancher husband,
Charles Goodnight
Charles Goodnight (March 5, 1836 – December 12, 1929), also known as Charlie Goodnight, was a rancher in the American West. In 1955, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
Early ...
, to save some of the last bison which were taking refuge in the
Texas Panhandle
The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a square-shaped area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east. It is adjacent to ...
. By saving these few Plains bison, she was able to establish a buffalo herd near the
Palo Duro Canyon
Palo Duro Canyon is a canyon system of the Caprock Escarpment located in the Texas Panhandle near the cities of Amarillo, Texas, Amarillo and Canyon, Texas, Canyon. As the second-largest canyon in the United States, it is roughly long and has an ...
. This herd peaked at 250 in 1933. Bison of this herd were introduced into the Yellowstone National Park in 1902 and into the larger zoos and ranches throughout the nation. A herd of around 80 of these animals lives in the
Caprock Canyons State Park near
Quitaque, Texas
Quitaque ( ) is a city in southeastern Briscoe County, Texas, United States. The town lies directly south of Capcrock Canyon State Park and is a ranching and farming area in West Texas. The population was 411 at the 2010 census.
According to t ...
, located about 50 miles northeast of
Plainview, Texas
Plainview is a city in and the county seat of Hale County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 22,194.
Geography
Plainview is located at (34.191204, –101.718806) and is located on the Llano Estacado.
According ...
.
Ted Turner
Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, cable news ch ...
owns America's largest secured bison herd in
Cimarron, New Mexico
Cimarron is a Village (United States), village in Colfax County, New Mexico, Colfax County, New Mexico, United States, which sits on the eastern slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The population was 1,021 at the 2010 United States Census, 2 ...
's
Vermejo Park Ranch
Vermejo Park Ranch, Vermejo Ranch, or Vermejo, is a nature reserve and guest ranch in northeastern New Mexico and southern Colorado. Ted Turner Reserves, the luxury hospitality company founded by Ted Turner, includes conservation research and e ...
.
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...
own a private bison herd in Cimarron's
Philmont Scout Ranch
Philmont Scout Ranch is a ranch located in Colfax County, New Mexico, near the village of Cimarron; it covers of wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on the east side of the Cimarron Range of the Rocky Mountains. Donated by oil baro ...
.
In 2013, bison were reintroduced to
Fort Belknap Indian Reservation
The Fort Belknap Indian Reservation ( ats, ’ak3ɔ́ɔyɔ́ɔ, lit=the fence or ats, ’ɔ’ɔ́ɔ́ɔ́nííítaan’ɔ, lit=Gros Ventre tribe, label=none) is shared by two Native American tribes, the A'aninin (Gros Ventre) and the Nakoda ...
from Yellowstone National Park.
A herd of Plains bison were successfully reintroduced to
Banff National Park
Banff National Park is Canada's oldest National Parks of Canada, national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rockies, Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous terrain, wi ...
in
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
in early 2017. The bison were kept under observation in an enclosed pasture of the park until the summer of 2018, after which they have been allowed to roam free. Observation is to be continued until 2022 according to
Parks Canada
Parks Canada (PC; french: Parcs Canada),Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the agency of the Government of Canada which manages the country's 48 National Parks, th ...
.
Uses
Besides using the meat, fat, and organs for food,
Plains tribes
Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nation band governments who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of N ...
have traditionally created a wide variety of tools and items from bison. These include arrow points,
awls, beads, berry pounders, hide scrapers, hoes, needles from bones, spoons from the horns, bow strings and thread from the
sinew
A tendon or sinew is a tough, high-tensile-strength band of dense fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone. It is able to transmit the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system without sacrificing its ability ...
, waterproof containers from the bladder, paint brushes from the tail and bones with intact marrow, and cooking oil from tallow. Skulls can be used ceremonially as altars.
Rawhide is used for
parfleche
A parfleche is a Native American rawhide container that is embellished by painting, incising, or both.
Envelope-shaped parfleches have historically been used to contain items such household tools or foods, such as dried meat or pemmican. They w ...
s, shield covers, and
moccasin
A moccasin is a shoe, made of deerskin or other soft leather, consisting of a sole (made with leather that has not been "worked") and sides made of one piece of leather, stitched together at the top, and sometimes with a vamp (additional panel o ...
soles. Hides with the fur are used for blankets, wraps, and warm clothing.
Tanned hides, the finest of which are tanned with the animal's brains and then smoked, are used in clothing, moccasins,
tipi
A tipi , often called a lodge in English, is a conical tent, historically made of animal hides or pelts, and in more recent generations of canvas, stretched on a framework of wooden poles. The word is Siouan languages, Siouan, and in use in Dakot ...
covers,
calendars
A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a physi ...
, and artwork.
See also
*
Antelope Island bison herd
The Antelope Island bison herd is a semi–free-ranging population of American bison (''Bison bison, ''buffalo) in Antelope Island State Park in Great Salt Lake, Utah. Bison were introduced to Antelope Island in 1893. The herd is significant ...
* ''
Bison antiquus
''Bison antiquus'', the antique bison or ancient bison, is an extinct species of bison that lived in Late Pleistocene North America until around 10,000 years ago. It was one of the most common large herbivores on the North American continent d ...
''
* ''
Bison bonasus''
* ''
Bison latifrons
''Bison latifrons'', also known as the giant bison or long-horned bison, is an extinct species of bison that lived in North America during the Pleistocene epoch ranging from Alaska to Mexico. It was the largest and heaviest bovid ever to live in ...
''
* ''
Bison occidentalis
''Bison occidentalis'' is an extinct species of bison that lived in North America, and in continental EurasiaC. G Van Zyll de Jong , 1986, A systematic study of recent bison, with particular consideration of the wood bison (Bison bison athabas ...
''
* ''
Bison priscus
The steppe bisonSeveral literatures address the species as ''primeval bison''. or steppe wisent (''Bison'' ''priscus'')
– Y ...
''
*
Bison hunting
Bison hunting (hunting of the American bison, also commonly known as the American buffalo) was an activity fundamental to the economy and society of the Plains Indians peoples who inhabited the vast grasslands on the Interior Plains of Nor ...
*
Bison
Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised.
Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North Ame ...
*
Bovid hybrid
A bovid hybrid is a hybrid of two different members of the bovid family.
''Bos'' hybrids
Hybrids between bison and domestic cattle
The American bison and European bison (wisent) have been hybridized with domestic cattle.
European biso ...
*
Buffalo Commons
The Buffalo Commons is a conceptual proposal to create a vast nature preserve by returning of the drier portion of the Great Plains to native prairie, and by reintroducing the American bison ("buffalo"), that once grazed the shortgrass prairie. ...
*
Buffalo Hunters' War
The Buffalo Hunters' War, or the Staked Plains War, occurred in 1877. Approximately 170 Comanche warriors and their families led by Quohadi chief Black Horse or Tu-ukumah (unknown–ca. 1900) left the Indian Territory in December, 1876, for t ...
*
European bison
The European bison (''Bison bonasus'') or the European wood bison, also known as the wisent ( or ), the zubr (), or sometimes colloquially as the European buffalo, is a European species of bison. It is one of two extant species of bison, along ...
*
Great bison belt
The great bison belt is a tract of rich grassland that ran from Alaska to the Gulf of Mexico from around 9000 BC. The great bison belt was supported by spring and early summer rainfall that allowed short grasses to grow. These grasses retain the ...
*
Plains hide painting Plains hide painting is a traditional Plains Indian artistic practice of painting on either tanned or raw animal hides. Tipis, tipi liners, shields, parfleches, robes, clothing, drums, and winter counts could all be painted.
Genres
Art historian J ...
*
Red River War
The Red River War was a military campaign launched by the United States Army in 1874 to displace the Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Native American tribes from the Southern Plains, and forcibly relocate the tribes to reservatio ...
*
Steppe bison
The steppe bisonSeveral literatures address the species as ''primeval bison''. or steppe wisent (''Bison'' ''priscus'')
– Y ...
*
Wood bison
The wood bison (''Bison bison athabascae'') or mountain bison (often called the wood buffalo or mountain buffalo), is a distinct northern subspecies or ecotype of the American bison. Its original range included much of the boreal forest regions ...
Notes
References
External links
''Globe and Mail'' - Plains bison return to the PrairiesZao Novbizon, bison farm in Novgorod, RussiaVideo of Texas State Bison Herdfrom the
Texas Archive of the Moving Image
The Texas Archive of the Moving Image (TAMI) is an independent 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2002 by film archivist and University of Texas at Austin professor Caroline Frick, PhD. TAMI's mission is to preserve, study, and exhibit Texas film h ...
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2447861
Plains Bison
The Plains bison (''Bison bison bison'') is one of two subspecies/ecotypes of the American bison, the other being the wood bison (''B. b. athabascae''). A natural population of Plains bison survives in Yellowstone National Park (the Yellowstone ...
Endemic fauna of the United States
Fauna of the Great Plains
Fauna of the Plains-Midwest (United States)
Mammals of the United States
Pre-Columbian Great Plains cuisine
Plains Bison
The Plains bison (''Bison bison bison'') is one of two subspecies/ecotypes of the American bison, the other being the wood bison (''B. b. athabascae''). A natural population of Plains bison survives in Yellowstone National Park (the Yellowstone ...
Plains Bison
The Plains bison (''Bison bison bison'') is one of two subspecies/ecotypes of the American bison, the other being the wood bison (''B. b. athabascae''). A natural population of Plains bison survives in Yellowstone National Park (the Yellowstone ...