As goes the Bison – so goes America

The American Bison often misidentified as “Buffalo“ is an icon of plains Indian culture and the Westward expansion movement

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The saga of the American Bison (scientific name Bison,bison of the Bovidea family as are domestic cattle) is so entwined in the tale of American westward expansion that is becomes deeply symbolic. This critter we habitually, but errantly, call “Buffalo” is the largest terrestrial mammal in North America. There are two varieties of bison: the woodlands bison is the smaller, and the plains bison is larger. A plains bison bull can grow to be 15 feet long, 6 1/2 to 7 feet tall and weigh between 2,000 and 2,500 pounds! What we see in Yellowstone are often the woodlands or “Mountain” variety, but I routinely encounter some pretty impressive specimens with respect to their size.

In my travels through Yellowstone, Lamar valley most often, I routinely encounter some pretty impressive specimens with respect to their size This could be because plains bison were planted in the Lamar where the smaller "woodland bison survived the 19th century in another part of the park.

These Bison are unique and rugged looking with their unbalanced physiques; massive in head and chest tapering rapidly to a svelte hindquarters of a depth that looks to be far less than half that of the massive chest area. Both male and female of the species grow horns which emerge from the sides of the head and generally curve skyward in a graceful arc. Bulls of the species can grow some dangerous looking weapons.

From the National Wildlife Federation internet page;
“Bison are most active in early morning and late afternoon, but sometimes also on moonlit nights. In the midday heat, it rests, chewing its cud or dust-bathing. This animal commonly rubs its horns on trees, thrashes saplings and wallows in the dirt. A good swimmer, it is so buoyant that head, hump and tail remain above water.”

A large herd observed along the Gibbon river engage in their “dust wallow” behavior and other characteristic social activity.

Bison mate in August and September; gestation is 285 days. As winter approaches, Park Bison tend to migrate to lower elevations which often causes them to exit the safe confines of Yellowstone into the border states of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. This causes some excitement which we will discuss later. A single reddish-brown calf is born the following spring, and it nurses for a year. Bison are mature at three years of age, and have a life expectancy of approximately 15 years in the wild. In the spring they return to the high valleys such as the Lamar Valley in Northeast Yellowstone to calve in late April and May, and raise their young through the summer.

|Young of the species maintain a distinctive red coloration and are as empathetic as most new borns despite the visage they will present in maturity||

The Lamar teems with Bison through the summer months. Bison are social animals. They like to be around each other and are friendly and affectionate to their kind – they mill about in close groups. They are very curious, near-sighted and wary – a combination that can be lethal for the careless photographer or tourist. Between 1978 and 1992, nearly five times as many people in Yellowstone National Park were killed or injured by bison as by bears (12 by bears, 56 by bison). Bison have unexpected agility, given their size and ungainly physique, and can leap over a standard barbed-wire fence. Motivated, a Bison can run between 30-35 miles per hour – trust me – Faster than you can flee with you camera gear and without as well. They are very deceptive when observed as they seem slow and taciturn – Bison jams are a common occurrence in Yellowstone and the Bison rarely concern themselves with a vehicle in their midst. It is a bit daunting to sit in your car as dozens of the lumbering beasts shuffle past – scarcely acknowledging your presence.

This pair of bulls spars intermittently testing their strength and practicing. Watching their power and agility in this activity gives one the sense of the damage they are capable of inflicting.

The Lamar herd, which probably numbers a 1,000 or more, will divide itself up into distinct groups, each group headed by a dominant bull. A few of those dominant bulls winter in the Lamar and make striking figures on a frigid winter day when they are covered in snow and using their massive heads to push away the deep snow in search of remnants of the tall grass from summer. Those that weaken feed the wolf packs that wander the vicinity. In spring, after calving, the wolves are commonly seen harrying cows with calves to winnow them out of the herd. I watched one day last spring as wolves separated a cow and her calf and over the course of several hours wearied both through intermittent teasing attacks until finally the defenseless calf was drug away. Yellowstone Park is not the zoo. While scenes as I’ve just described may seem brutal; they represent real nature as it is unhindered and in that sense are of inestimable value.

Mature bulls often winter in the Lamar . . . At their own peril for the wolf pack remains and is quick to sense weakness or vulnerability. Wolves would rarely attack a healthy bull, however, in the interest of their own well being – but they are ever watchful.

Hard as it is to believe today, however, we nearly lost forever, this symbol of the West. A century ago, the U.S. government nearly exterminated the American buffalo, an animal that once thundered across the plains 60 million strong. The massacre of 50 million+ buffalo during the 19th century, an incredible devastation, destroyed an entire ecosystem (the Great Plains), and had devastating impacts on Native nations. Hunted for the lucrative “buffalo robes” , for the purpose of ridding the pioneer’s livestock of competitors for the grass; and to “clear the tracks” of the new ly minted transcontinental railroads, uncounted masses of Bison were slaughtered. By 1900, the herds of the Plains had completely disappeared. Yellowstone National Park sheltered the remaining 23 wild buffalo. The only continuously wild bison herd in the United States is that which resides within Yellowstone Park today and numbers between 3,000 and 3,500, this herd is descended from that remnant population of those 23 individual mountain bison that survived the mass slaughter of the 1800s by hiding out in the Pelican Valley of Yellowstone Park. In 1902, a captive herd of 21 Plains bison were introduced to the Lamar Valley and managed like domestic livestock until the 1960s, when a policy of natural regulation was adopted by the park. My late father-in-law told stories of visiting a friend who wintered on the “Bison ranch” in the center of Lamar and fed hay to the Bison. Today the ranch buildings still stand complete with a major set of intact corals but the bison are no longer fed or protected from natural consequence.

The plight of the American Bison certainly seems to bear deep introspection and this Bison seems engaged in just that on a dreary winter morning.

As a regular and frequent visitor to Yellowstone National Park (YNP), I have observed the “Buffalo” and considered it to be a part of the natural environment for most of my life. It is true, however, that a drama of somewhat major proportions regarding the status of that Park herd, has also been a part of the picture for a goodly share of my life . The YNP herd is known to carry a disease called Brucellosis, and despite the lack of hard evidence of communicability to domestic livestock, they are viewed to pose a threat to commercial cattle breeders in surrounding states because the disease causes the spontaneous abortion of fetus in pregnant cattle. Cattle that can be certified “brucellosis free” have greater value and Montana has had that designation until just recently. Park bison do not understand that there are imaginary lines, the crossing of which, portends some grave economic consequences for ranchers in the surrounding states. They routinely migrate to lower elevations in the fall of the year to avoid the harsh circumstances to be found in the higher elevations inside YNP. The collision of values this represents led to the slaughter of more than a thousand of the escapees during the past several decades and for a while led to a buffalo hunting season in Montana. There was sufficient outcry from PETA and other animal activists such that today the control methodologies focus on hazing Bison back into the park, capture and donation to Indian tribes saving slaughter as a last resort. The YNP park herd thrives despite this issue.

The only continuously wild bison herd in the United States is that which resides within Yellowstone Park today and numbers between 3,000 and 3,500

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The National Bison Association (NBA) estimates that approximately 150,000 bison exist in public and private herds in the United States. 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 (estimated somewhere between 3,500-4,500), and the three largest private herds are those owned by the Houck family of Pierre, South Dakota, Turner Enterprises and Durham Ranches, Inc.

As with much of our nature and natural heritage; it seems we must risk total loss to grow our awareness of how much it means to us. Hopefully on that day you take your ride through Yellowstone – these great symbols of our Western heritage will mean a bit more to you for having read this article.

These icons of the American west seem content in their Yellowstone home – this fellow enjoys a view most of us would envy out our front window