Species Name: American Bison (Bison bison).

Length: Male: 10' to 12'6" Female: 7' to 8'.

Height: Male: to 6' Female: to 5'.

Weight: Male: 991 to 2,000 lb Female: 793 to 1,013 lb.

Horn Soread: to 3'.

Habitat: Primarily plains, prairies, and river valleys; sometimes forests.

Range: Historically they ranged from s Northwest Territories to nw Mexico, Texas, and Mississippi, and east to sw New York, South Carolina, and Georgia. Now large, free-ranging herds only exist at Wood Buffalo National Park, Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary, and Slave River Lowlands in Northwest Territories, Canada, and in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. There are small free-ranging herds in Alaska, ne British Columbia, nw Saskatchewan, and Northwest Territories and many smaller herds in fenced areas.

Description:Bison are the largest terrestrial animal in North America. They are dark brown, with shaggy mane and beard. They have a long tail with a tuft at the tip, broad, massive head, humped shoulders and short shaggy coated legs with large hooves.

Bison travel in herds of usually 2 to 20 individuals on plains, prairies and river valleys. The sexes are in separate herds except during breeding season - June to September. Buffalo are most active in the early morning and late afternoon. Although usually docile, Buffalo may stampede if frightened, reaching speeds of up to 32 mph. They are among the most dangerous animals to visitors to US national parks, especially Yellowstone National Park. Between 1928 and 1992 nearly 5 times as many people were killed or injured by buffalo than by bears in Yellowstone National Park.

Discussion: In the 15th century it is estimated that 30 - 70 million bison grazed from the Atlantic to the Pacific coasts and from Mexico and Florida to Canada. They were central to the life of native Americans who used them for food, clothing, shelter and tools. Although native Americans occasionally killed more buffalo than they could use, they had no significant effect on the population.

In about 1830 US government policy advicated the animals' extermination to subdue native American hostile tribes through starvation. By 1900 fewer than 1000 bison remained. A crusade of rescue and restoration began. Today more than 65,000 buffalo roam the US and Canadian national parks and ranges. There are few wild and free ranging buffalo.

Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge: The images in this artical were taken at Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. In addition to maintaining a herd of bison, there is a herd of longhorn cattle. Other photo opportunities include prairie dogs, whitetailed deer, elk, wild turkey, coyotes, collared lizards and wildflowers.

References:

• eNature.com

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