Know your Bison

Bison (Bison bison) Information from the Neil Smith National Wildlife Refuge:

Male bison often weigh 2,000 lbs. or more and stand 5 to 6 feet high at the shoulders.

The huge head and great hump are covered with dark brown wooly hair that contrasts with their relatively small hips.

Despite their great size and bulk, bison have amazing mobility, speed, and agility and are able to sprint at speeds of 30 mph.

Bison have cloven hoofs. Both male and female have a single set of hollow, curved horns.

Bison have a life expectancy of about 20 years.

Males live alone most of the year, but during the breeding season, mid-to-late summer, the bulls join the cows and young bison herd.

Short history of the Bison:

In 1806, Lewis and Clark wrote, "The moving multitude...darkened the whole plains."

As the American frontier expanded westward, a systematic reduction of the bison began around 1830.

Organized groups of hunters killed bison for hides and meat, often killing up to 250 bison a day.

Estimates indicate there were once between 30 to 75 million bison in North America, but the great herds were reduced to less than 300 buffalo by 1900.

Today, bison populations are strong 200,000 buffalo roam the plains, many at Wildlife Refuges, Parks, and some tribes and individuals have private herds.