Bison bison
Bison in Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park
More than 60 million animals. That is how many “American buffalo” roamed the plains at the beginning of the 19th century. And yet, a mere one hundred years later, the species was feared extinct until a small population of about two dozen animals was discovered in a remote part of the recently established Yellowstone National Park.
It is hard to comprehend how it was even possible to slaughter that many of the large, wild bovines but their story, along with that of the passenger pigeon, has proven just how resourceful humans can be when we put our minds to something.
A male bison appears agitated as he approaches a female during the rut which occurs in August each year.
Pure bred bison can be found in several locations in the country in current day but their numbers are still a tiny fraction of what they were before the arrival of the European settlers. Yellowstone is the only place in the lower 48 states where descendants of the original animals have existed since before the written word.
There are approximately 5000 animals now living in the Park, a number that is often debated and discussed by politicians and wildlife managers in an effort to reach agreement on the ideal population size.
A young “red dog” runs along side its mother as a cowbird keeps pace.
Even though almost all of Yellowstone sits within the state of Wyoming, bison that leave the Park in the winter months when heavy snow makes it hard to find food tend to do so disproportionately into parts of Montana. Over the years, that state has tended to penalize the wandering animals by slaughtering those that leave the Park boundary. The concern is that the bison will transfer the disease brucellosis to domestic cattle, even though there is a great deal of controversy over the actual threat that exists.
A bison makes use of roads groomed for human travel to move more easily through the snow.
This big bull bison appeared upset after a string of snowmobiles passed by on the road and he seemed to take his anger out on a small tree.
I have heard visitors to the Park complain that they are tired of seeing bison after traveling through Lamar Valley in Yellowstone’s Northern Range but I love seeing the huge herds spread out on the landscape. It allows me to imagine, just for a moment, what the plains must have looked like 200 years ago before these magnificent beasts were almost wiped out for good.
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