- American bison, or plains buffalo
The so-called American buffalo that used to roam by the millions on the North American plains is actually a bison. The American, or plains, bison is the largest land mammal in North America. The only other species, or type, of bison is the European bison, or wisent. The true buffalo are a different group of animals found in the warm regions of Africa and Asia. Both bison and buffalo belong to the scientific family Bovidae. Where bison liveAt one time, large herds of American bison roamed the area from Mexico to northern Canada and from the eastern United States to west of the Rocky Mountains. Most lived on open prairies. Today, however, the American bison is found mainly in protected areas such as national parks. The European bison used to range over Eastern Europe, but it is now found in restricted areas mostly in Poland and Russia. It lives in woodlands. Physical featuresBison are large, powerful animals. A fully grown bull, or male bison, stands about 61/2 feet (2 meters) tall at the shoulder and weighs about 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms). An adult female is about 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall and weighs about 700 pounds (320 kilograms). The European bison is slightly larger than the American bison but is not as heavily built. A bison has a huge head and a hump at the shoulders. Two short horns curve upward. A female's horns are more slender than a male's. A bison's fur is coarse, shaggy, and dark brown. It grows especially long on the head, neck, and shoulders and usually forms a beard on the chin. The hair on the bison's front is permanent, but the hair on its hind parts is shed each year, beginning in March. By early summer those parts are quite bare. For protection against insect bites, a bison wallows in mud or shallow ponds to cover its body with mud or clay. When the mud or clay dries in the sun, it forms a protective cover. By October new hair has grown on the hind parts. The fur is at its fullest in November and December. BehaviorBison prefer to eat grass and herbs, but they also eat twigs and leaves. They move around in small groups, or bands. A band of bison is usually made up of one or more females and several generations of their offspring. Adult males live somewhere outside a band's territory or form their own small groups. The cow, or female bison, usually gives birth to a single calf in May after about nine months of pregnancy. All members of the band protect the young. Sometimes large herds form when dozens or even hundreds of bands come together. Herds of bison may make short seasonal migrations. They travel a few hundred miles southward in winter and then move back north when warmer weather returns. Bison usually move with a plodding walk, but they also trot and run. Despite their size, they are agile and fast. They can run at speeds of 40 miles per hour (65 kilometers per hour). Bison and humansFor the Plains Indians the American bison was the most important game animal. The Indians ate fresh bison meat or preserved the meat by drying and pounding it. Bison hides provided material for tepees and robes. About 30 to 60 million bison roamed over North America when Europeans arrived in the 16th century. As white settlers moved westward in the 18th and 19th centuries, however, the number of bison dropped dramatically. The settlers killed millions of the animals for food, for hides, or just for sport. By the 1880s fewer than 1,000 American bison were left, most of them in Canada. At the start of the 20th century, as the American bison neared extinction, cattlemen and conservationists came together to protect the remaining animals on government land. In the early 21st century there were as many as 200,000 American bison, and they were no longer in danger of extinction. The European bison also came close to extinction. For centuries the animals have been protected on government lands in Poland. Today European bison are kept and bred in other countries as well. Some animals have been released into the wild. Their numbers remain low, however. |