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Bison once roamed from Canada to Mexico, grazing the great plains and frequenting the mountain areas of the North American continent. Their number being so great that the early explorers could not count them, describing them as "number-numberless," and "the country was one black robe" and the "plains were black and appeared as if in motion" with the herds of bison. The most commonly used estimate of their former numbers is approximately 60 million.
A strong relationship between the human and the bison has existed for thousand of years. Bison were the center of life for the Plains Tribes of Native Americans, providing them with food, shelter, clothing and spiritual inspiration. Legend tells "the Great Spirit brought the pipe to the people. She came as a young woman wearing a white buckskin dress and moccasins. After the Great Spirit presented the pipe to the people and explained the significance of that pipe, she left the teepee as a white bison calf." 
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The American bison live on plains, prairies and river valleys. The bison is a member of the bovine family. Commonly called “buffalo” (which is actually a different species not found in North America), it is the largest land mammal in North America. There are two subspecies: the wood bison in northern Canada and the plains bison which once roamed across much of the continent. The bison has a large head with relatively small, curving horns. Its dark brown coat is long and shaggy on the forequarters, including the front legs, neck, and shoulders, while the rest of the body has shorter, finer hair.
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Bison are considered a keystone species – they once roamed the continent in great herds, and their grazing pressure helped shape the ecology of the Great Plains.
Some Information About Bisons
Height 6-6.5 feet at the shoulder
Length 10-12.5 feet
Weight 900-2,000 lbs; males are larger than females
Lifespan 18-22 years in the wild; over 30 years in captivity
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The American bison is a grazer. Its diet is made up of mostly grasses and sedges. It will occasionally eat berries and lichen. In winter, the bison uses its head and hooves to move snow off the vegetation. Bison have a fairly simple diet . The bison's main food is grass . Bison also eat the low lying shrubbery that is available. In the winter, bison forage in the snow looking for grass. If there is little grass available, bison have to resort to eating the twigs of the shrubs and plants.
Research has demonstrated that bison is a highly nutrient dense food because of the proportion of protein, fat, minerals and fatty acids compared to caloric value. Comparisons with other slaughtered animals also show that bison has a greater concentration of iron as well as other essential ingredients. The legendary strength and endurance of the Native Plains American are perhaps testimony to the extraordinary nutritional values acquired from a diet that depended upon a constant supply of bison meat. Although bison is thus an excellent red meat source that is higher in protein, lower in fat, cholesterol and calories than other meats, the cattle and bison industry are not really competitors. There is no way bison producers could satisfy the red meat and protein needs of the American public. Bison meat is an alternative to beef considering the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that 124,000 cattle are slaughtered each day and there are only 150,000 head of bison in all public and private herds in the United States.
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Female bison are ready to mate when they are two to three years old. Males aren't ready to mate until they are about six. Mating season begins in July and can run through September. When mating season begins, male bison move into female groups and select a female. They then "tend" the female.
Males tend a female by staying between her and the rest of the herd. Tending can last for a few minutes or for several days. If a female isn't interested in a male, she will walk away. Males will threaten and sometimes attack other males that try to get too close to a female he is tending.
Fights between males can involve headbutting, shoving, or locking horns.
The female gives birth to one calf after about nine months. She will go to an isolated area to give birth. Newborn bison are reddish brown and can stand shortly after birth. The mother and her calf will stay isolated from the herd for a couple of days. At about two months, the calf will begin to develop shoulder humps and horns. The calf is usually weaned by the time it is seven months old.
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The near extermination of the American Bison did not occur just in a few short violent years. The fur trade, which began in the 1600s, initially focused on beaver but then demanded that bison (buffalo) robes be shipped to Europe. By the early 1800s, trade in buffalo robes and buffalo tongues significantly increased and caused approximately 200,000 bison kills annually on the plains. The 1830s to 1860s were the four decades in which most of the slaughter of bison occurred. Wagon load after wagon load of robes, tongues and, occasionally, selected cuts of bison meat, moved east. Soon, collection and shipping of bison bones to eastern cities where they ground up for use as phosphorous fertilizer or bone char became common. The arrival of the railroads further exacerbated herd conditions for the bison and by the early 1880s there were only a few free-ranging bison.
In 1886, zoologist William T. Hornaday needed specimens of the plains bison for the National Museum in Washington, D.C. Knowing that the plains bison were now becoming quite scarce, he went west and collected in eight weeks time only 25 bison in a region (Montana) that had supported tens of thousands a few years earlier. His thorough search clearly demonstrated that the species was indeed in danger of imminent extinction. By 1893, the estimates were only slightly more than 300 bison left of the herds that conservatively numbered near 60 million animals.
On December 8, 1905, the American Bison Society was formed with William Hornaday as president and Theodore Roosevelt as honorary president. Roosevelt persuaded Congress to establish a number of wildlife preserves, and, with the help of a cadre of private bison owners, the Society was able to stock a number of preserves and parks. A 1929 inventory of bison counted 3,385 animals, and although the count was not precise it was encouraging enough that the Society discontinued its programs and activities in 1930. Ranchers and breeders recognizing the obvious economic potential of the animal, expanded their efforts to preserve, protect and reestablish the American Bison. The National Bison Association (NBA) estimates approximately 150,000 bison in public and private herds in the United States at this time. Of these animals the federal government manages approximately 6,000 and tribal authorities at least 5,000. A small number of bison are managed by city and state governments but 90% are owned and managed by private sector entrepreneurs. Herd numbers can range from one to several thousand. The largest public herd is in Yellowstone National Park (approximately 4,500), and the three largest private herds are those owned by the Houck family of Pierre, South Dakota, Turner Enterprises and Durham Ranches, Inc.
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