American Bison

Description:

The American bison are the largest terrestrial animals in North America. Originally, the Native Plains Indians of North America used just about every part of the bison. Their lives revolved around the availability of bison. But by the 1890s this all changed as the bison were being eliminated by European settlers. This occurred for two reasons. First, there was the greed factor. For a good part of the 1800s bison were considered to be in limitless supply. For non-native buffalo hunters they were the equivalent of a gold mine on four legs. This group hunted bison from trains and horseback for their tongues, hides, bones and little else. The tongue was, and still is considered a delicacy. Hides were prepared and shipped to the east and Europe for processing into leather. Remaining carcasses were, for the most part, left to rot. By the time nothing but bones remained, they too were gathered and shipped via rail to eastern destinations for processing into industrial carbon and fertilizer. By the 1890s with numbers nearing extinction, the bison 'gold rush' was over. At the same time, the American government openly encouraged elimination of the Plains Indians' primary food source, the bison. In so doing, the Indians would be forced into relatively small areas, or north into Canada. In either situation, food sources were either scarce or non-existent. The results were starvation, and high infant mortality amongst the Indian populations. In the end the west was open to European settlement and the start of the western beef industry. Only in the last 10 to 15 years can it be said that North American Bison have returned from the near extinction they faced in the 1890s. What was once decimated to less than 2,000 in number has, through careful breeding and nurturing, returned and flourished.

Habitat:

The American Bison live on plains, prairies and river valleys.

Notes:

Did you know? The bison's thick, shaggy coat is so well insulated that snow can settle on its back without melting.