American Bison

The American bison (Bison bison), also commonly known as the American buffalo or simply buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds. They became nearly extinct by a combination of westward expansion, commercial hide hunting and introduction of diseases from cattle. Their historical range roughly comprised a triangle between the Great Bear Lake in Canada’s far northwest, south to the Mexican states, and east to the Atlantic Seaboard. Two subspecies have been described: the plains bison (B. b. bison), smaller in size and with a more rounded hump, and the wood bison (B. b. athabascae)—the larger of the two and having a taller, square hump. The wood bison is one of the largest wild species of bovid in the world

Bison Biology- Facts About Bison

Bison Anatomy Did you know? Are Bison and Buffalo the same? Bison or American Bison often called ‘buffalo” or American Buffalo. Although it’s not correct, it’s an old habit formed from the first explorers seeing them and referring to them as an Ox type animal. See: Did you know? “Buffalo” is a completely different animal than Bison, people are thinking of the Water Buffalo, also called domestic water buffalo or Asian water buffalo, as a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and China. Today, it is also found in Europe, Australia, North America, South America, … Read more

Australia Bison History

Australia Bison History dates back to as early as 1906, several have been imported for the Zoos in Sydney and Adelaide. Special thanks to the Australia Government and State Archives, National Library of Australia, State Library of South Australia and Zoos of SA, for providing us with all this great information. On May 28, 1906, it was published that Wirth Brothers was coming to Brisbane and had a bison to show. The Wirth family were an Australian family who all were very talented and took their show on the road for more than 80 years. On November 4th, 1913 the … Read more

Bison Population in North America: Then and Now

May 1, 2019 Bison Population in North America: Then and Now Roy V. Cuellar In 1876, the Cartographer Joel Allen designed a thematic map for the Kentucky Geological Survey. Illustrating change over time had been a reoccurring challenge for mapmakers of the day. Allen incorporated data from isothermal charts collected by the Coast Survey with geological and paleontology discoveries gathered in the field from scientific explorations. Seven shades of color illustrated the historical North American ranges of the bison. The first five colors illustrated the previous 76-years from 1800, the last two shades covered represented ancient habitats that extended outwards … Read more

1933

<< Previous Next >> Arizona Westerners Should Know Jan 1, 1933 By OREN ARNOLD and MABEL EARP CASON Here is a drawing of the traditional “buffalo” familiar to all Americans, and yet there never was a buffalo in America, except possibly in a zoo! The noble creature which occupies so prominent a part in our history, which is written indelibly with the conquest of the West, was in fact, a bison, characterized by the shoulder hump. True buffaloes are found only on other continents and do not have humps. But nobody, now, ever hopes to correct the national error! One … Read more

Bison Populations – Census

How many Bison do we have? Bison Populations Summary of US Government Herds Foreign Countries 1908-1929 bottom of this page Foreign Countries go to menu and select Bison World News and select country. European Bison Numbers YEAR SOURCE U S A CANADA US GOV TRIBAL TOTAL 1951 Field Guide to Am. Wildlife. N. Y: Harper & Row. Est 23,340 1970 Shaw and Meagher (plains bison) 30,000 1996 Canadian Bison Assoc 42,235 1997 University of Wy 107,266 2002 USDA 231,950 -privately owned … Read more

Wind Cave National Park

Hot Springs Weekly Star. – LOC Hot Springs, S.D., June 09, 1899 Perhaps no spot west of the Mississippi is so historic in interest as these Black Hills. A number of legends are connected therewith, perhaps the most beautiful of which is that of Battle Mountain, the topmost peak of a tier of rugged hills overlooking the entire Vale of Minnekahta. As near as I can recollect it I will give it to you as it was given to me, by a gentleman well versed in the history of this beautiful spot. “A number of years ago the Crow … Read more

European Bison

Pages: 1 2 European Bison Conservation Center (EBCC) Also known as Wisent INFORMATION ABOUT ALL WISENT CONSERVATION UNITS Wisent registry in Poland International Society for the Preservation of the European Bison (ISPEB) Bison Specialist Group – EUROPE European Bison Friends Society European Bison Pedigree Book The Society for the Protection of the European Bison (SPEB) was founded in 1922 by scientists from Poland, Germany, the UK, and Sweden. The charity’s aims were to conserve and repopulate the European bison, or wisent, that was then on the brink of extinction. After the last wild wisent was killed in 1927, SPEB reintroduced wisents (from collections in zoos) back … Read more

United Kingdom

British Bison Association The British Association looks like it is in the making. Their site is not live at this point, however they do have a Facebook page. BBA on facebook Web address is not active http://www.britishbisonassociation.co.uk/ To farm bison it is necessary to have a Wild Animal License this was no problem. However, under EU/United Kingdom legislation bison are treated as normal bovines despite the fact that they are not classed as a domesticated species. Mary Sworn 01/18/22 For the past few years, it seems as though the world has been making a conscious effort to look after our … Read more

Southern Plains Bison Pointers Oct 2016

Don’t believe what you see! Ghosts, goblins and other miniature versions of superheroes and villains will be everywhere tonight, but they’re not real! – Just fyi (!) The other thing that may not be real is the grass you see when you look out across the field. The transitional period in Texas and the southern plains can vary widely and is often deceiving whereas the cool season is just getting started and the warm season is in a dried back, or late stage, with very little feed value. The other very deceiving thing is pastures that are exotic like Coastal … Read more

Bison Facts – Did you know?

Bison Biology – Facts About Bison Bison facts you may not know. Why were bison called buffalo? How the word ‘buffalo’ came into use. To the Spanish explorers the animal was called cibola or cubola. Some Spanish writers called them bisonte. Others called them armenta. Early French called them le boeuf buffe, vache sauvage or Bison d’ Amerique. Canadian voyagers called them boeuf (ox or bullock) The later French called them bufflo and later still buffelo. English colonist were using the term “buffalo” around 1710 and it 1st appeared in print around 1754. Peter Kalm, who traveled through America in 1749, … Read more