American Buffalo
Buffalo
Black-Footed Ferret
Caribou
Elk
Florida Panther
Grizzly Bear
Lynx
Moose
Red Wolf
American Buffalo or Bison
(Bison bison)
Buffalo are the largest North American land mammal. Bison are members of the cow family. American indians called these magnificent creatures "tatanka". It is believed that the ancestor of the American Buffalo originated in Asia around 400,000 years ago and crossed a land bridge that connected Russia and Alaska. At the Buffalo's peak in North America it is estimated that there were between 40 to 75 million animals mostly on the prairies and plains.
Buffalo Highlights:
- Male buffalo can weigh as much as 2000 pounds and stand five to six feet tall. Female buffalo can weigh as much as 1100 pounds and stand four to five feet tall.
- Buffalo mostly eat grasses like blue grama, buffalo grass, wheat grass and some other grasses.
- Female buffalo have one calf every year in the Spring usually in April or May. caribou have one calf in the spring.
- Bison can sprint up to 35 mph.
By around 1900, due to extensive hunting, the American Bison had been reduced to around 300 animals and were close to extinction. In 1894 Congress passed a law that made hunting buffalo illegal in Yellowstone National Park. In the early 1900s Yellowstone National Park purchased 21 bison from private herds to shore up Yellowstone's herd. Today the herds in Yellowstone number around 3,000 and the total population of buffalo in North America is estimated to be around 200,000.
One of the largest wild herds of bison live in and around Yellowstone National Park. You can also see herds in:
Yellowstone National Park - J. Schmidt
Yellowstone National Park - Josh Robbins
Yellowstone National Park -Jim Peaco
Yellowstone National Park -Jim Peaco
