🐾 American Bison

American Bison

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Who it is

• Scientific name: Bison bison
• Family & relatives: A member of the cattle family Bovidae, closely related to the European wisent and to domestic cattle.
• How to spot it: A massive humped animal with a shaggy dark-brown mane, a broad bearded head, and short curved horns on both sexes.

Its body & abilities

• Size: Bulls stand about 1.8 to 2 m at the shoulder and up to 3.5 m long.
• Weight: Bulls weigh about 900 to 1,000 kg (up to 2,200 lb); cows are smaller.
• Body & adaptations: Its huge shoulder hump is built of muscle that powers the head to sweep snow off winter grass.
• Top speed: Surprisingly fast, galloping up to about 55 km/h (35 mph).
• Strength: Immense strength lets it charge, jump fences, and pivot quickly despite its bulk.
• Senses: Keen smell and hearing but relatively poor eyesight.
• Growing up: A reddish calf can stand within hours, is weaned by about a year, and matures at two to three years.

Where it lives

• Habitat: Grasslands, prairies, and river valleys, plus meadows in mountain and boreal regions.
• Where in the world: North America, now mostly in parks and reserves in the U.S. and Canada.
• Territory: Not strongly territorial; herds roam large ranges that once covered vast migratory distances.

What it eats

• Diet: Grazing herbivore that feeds on grasses and needs to drink water regularly.
• Favorite foods: Mainly grasses and sedges, plus some herbs and woody plants in winter.
• How it hunts: It grazes across the plains, moving constantly to fresh grass and using its head to clear snow.

How it behaves

• How it moves: Walks and trots steadily and can gallop and swim well when needed.
• When it is active: Active by day, grazing in the morning and evening and resting and chewing cud midday.
• Family life: Lives in herds; large groups gather especially during the summer rut.
• How it talks: Bulls bellow loudly during the rut and the herd uses grunts, snorts, and body posture.
• Babies: After about a 9-month gestation a cow bears a single calf in spring, which she nurses and guards.

Its place in nature

• Role in nature: A keystone grazer that shapes prairie ecosystems; wolves and grizzly bears are its natural predators.
• Conservation: Listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN after near-extinction; now conserved in managed herds.
• Dangers: Dies from predation on the young, harsh winters, disease, and hybridization with cattle.

Life & legacy

• How long it lives: Around 15 years in the wild and up to about 25 years in captivity.
• In our culture: Sacred to many Native American peoples and the national mammal of the United States.
• Where to see it: Yellowstone National Park, Wind Cave, Custer State Park, and Elk Island in Canada.
• Fun fact: Tens of millions once roamed North America, but by 1900 fewer than about 1,000 remained.