View source for American bison

{{short description|Species of bovid artiodactyl mammal}}
{{redirect|American Buffalo}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Speciesbox
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|0.01|0}}<small>Early [[Holocene]] – present</small>
| image = American bison k5680-1.jpg
| image_caption = [[Plains bison]]<br /> (''Bison bison bison'')
| image2 = Waldbison Bison bison athabascae Tierpark Hellabrunn-13.jpg
| image2_caption = [[Wood bison]]<br /> (''Bison bison athabascae'')[[File:Bison.ogg|Bison call audio]]
| status = NT
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn">{{cite iucn |author=Aune, K. |author2=Jørgensen, D. |author3=Gates, C. |name-list-style=amp |year=2017 |errata=2018 |title=''Bison bison'' |article-number=e.T2815A123789863 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T2815A45156541.en |access-date=February 17, 2022}} Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is "Near Threatened".</ref>
| genus = Bison <!--- do not change this without first obtaining consensus at [[WT:TOL]] or [[WT:MAMMAL]] --->
| species = bison
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])
| range_map2 = Bison_bison_map.svg
| synonyms = {{plainlist|
* ''Bos americanus'' {{small|Gmelin,&nbsp;1788}}
* ''Bos bison'' {{small|Linnaeus,&nbsp;1758}}
* ''Bison americanus'' {{small|(Gmelin,&nbsp;1788)}}
* ''Bison bison montanae'' {{small|Krumbiegel,&nbsp;1980}}
}}
| range_map = {{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|from=American bison range.map}}
| range_map_caption = IUCN range of the two American bison subspecies.
{{leftlegend|#382e2c|Plains bison (''Bison bison subsp. bison'')}}
{{leftlegend|#f2b981|Wood bison (''Bison bison subsp. athabascae'')}}
| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
| subdivision = ''[[Wood bison|B. b. athabascae]]'' (wood bison)<br />
''[[Plains bison|B. b. bison]]'' (plains bison)
}}
The '''American bison''' ('''''Bison bison'''''; {{plural form}}: ''bison''), commonly known as the '''American buffalo''', or simply '''buffalo''' (not to be confused with [[Bubalina|true buffalo]]), is a [[species]] of [[bison]] that is [[endemic species|endemic]] (or native)  to [[North America]]. It is one of two extant species of bison, along with the [[European bison]]. Its [[habitat|historical range]] ''circa'' 9000 BC is referred to as the [[great bison belt]], a tract of rich [[grassland]] spanning from [[Alaska]] south to the [[Gulf of Mexico]], and east to the [[Atlantic Seaboard]] (nearly to the [[Atlantic]] [[tidewater (geographic term)|tidewater]] in some areas), as far north as [[New York (state)|New York]], south to [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], and according to some sources, further south to northern [[Florida]], with sightings in [[North Carolina]] near Buffalo Ford on the [[Catawba River]] as late as 1750.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/17748/17748-h/17748-h.htm|title=The Extermination of the American Bison |author=William T. Hornaday|via=gutenberg.org|date=February 10, 2006 |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] |orig-date=1889}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fws.gov/species/species_accounts/bio_buff.html |title=American Buffalo (''Bison bison'') species page |publisher = [[U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]] |access-date = February 24, 2013}}</ref>

Two subspecies or ecotypes have been described: the [[plains bison]] (''B. b. bison''), smaller and with a more rounded hump; and the [[wood bison]] (''B. b. athabascae''), the larger of the two and having a taller, square hump.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Geist V. |title=Phantom subspecies: the wood bison, ''Bison bison'' "''athabascae''" Rhoads 1897, is not a valid taxon, but an ecotype |journal=Arctic |volume=44 |issue=4 |pages= 283–300 |year=1991 |doi=10.14430/arctic1552|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite conference | first = Charles E. | last = Kay |author2=Clifford A. White | title = Reintroduction of bison into the Rocky Mountain parks of Canada: historical and archaeological evidence | book-title = Crossing Boundaries in Park Management: Proceedings of the 11th Conference on Research and Resource Management in Parks and on Public Lands | pages = 143–51 | publisher = George Wright Soc | year = 2001 | location = Hancock, Michigan | url = http://www.georgewright.org/24kay.pdf | access-date =December 2, 2009}}</ref><ref name=RFLP>{{cite journal |title= Genetic relationship of wood and plains bison based on restriction fragment length polymorphisms |author= Bork, A. M. |author2= C. M. Strobeck |author3= F. C. Yeh |author4= R. J. Hudson |author5= R. K. Salmon |name-list-style= amp |journal= Can J Zool |volume= 69 |issue= 1 |pages= 43–48 |year= 1991 |url= http://article.pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/RPAS/RPViewDoc?_handler_=HandleInitialGet&calyLang=eng&journal=cjz&volume=69&articleFile=z91-007.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170510072808/http://article.pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/RPAS/RPViewDoc?_handler_=HandleInitialGet&calyLang=eng&journal=cjz&volume=69&articleFile=z91-007.pdf |archive-date= May 10, 2017 |doi= 10.1139/z91-007 |bibcode= 1991CaJZ...69...43B |access-date= December 2, 2009 }}</ref><ref name=Texas>{{cite journal |title=Conservation Genetic Analysis of the Texas State Bison Herd |author= Halbert, Natalie D. |author2= Terje Raudsepp |author3= Bhanu P. Chowdhary |author4= James N. Derr |name-list-style= amp |journal= Journal of Mammalogy |volume= 85 |issue= 5 |pages= 924–931 |year= 2004|doi= 10.1644/BER-029 |doi-access= free }}</ref><ref name="PMID10382295">{{cite journal |title= Genetic variation within and relatedness among wood and plains bison populations |author= Wilson, G. A. |author2=C. Strobeck |name-list-style=amp |journal= Genome |volume= 42 |issue= 3 |pages= 483–96 |year= 1999  |pmid= 10382295 |doi= 10.1139/gen-42-3-483 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |format=MS thesis |title=Conservation of North American Bison: Status and Recommendations |url=http://www.notitia.com/bison/Members/PDF%20Files/Library/Thesis%20Document%20-%20Conservation%20Status%20of%20Bison%20-%20BOYD.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928155026/http://www.notitia.com/bison/Members/PDF%20Files/Library/Thesis%20Document%20-%20Conservation%20Status%20of%20Bison%20-%20BOYD.pdf |archive-date=September 28, 2007 |last=Boyd |first=Delaney P. |date=April 2003 |publisher=[[University of Calgary]] |access-date=February 23, 2010 |oclc=232117310|doi=10.11575/PRISM/22701|isbn=978-0-494-00412-8 }}</ref> Furthermore, the plains bison has been suggested to consist of a northern plains (''B. b. montanae'') and a southern plains (''B. b. bison'') subspecies, bringing the total to three.<ref name=Texas/> However, this is generally not supported. The wood bison is one of the largest wild species of extant [[bovid]] in the world, surpassed only by the Asian [[gaur]].<ref name="Bull45">{{cite book |title=The Genetics of Cattle, 2nd Edition |isbn = 978-1-78064-221-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RYgXBgAAQBAJ&q=gaur+1500kg&pg=PA7|author1-link=Dorian Garrick|last1 = Garrick|first1 = Dorian|last2 = Ruvinsky|first2 = Anatoly|date = November 28, 2014}}</ref> Among [[Neontology|extant]] land animals in North America, the bison is the heaviest and the longest, and the second tallest after the [[moose]].

Once roaming in vast [[herd]]s, the species nearly became extinct by a combination of [[Bison hunting#19th-century bison hunts and near-extinction|commercial hunting and slaughter]] in the 19th century and introduction of bovine diseases from domestic cattle. With an estimated population of 60 million in the late 18th century, the species was [[Bison hunting|culled]] down to just 541 animals by 1889 as part of the subjugation of the Native Americans, because the American bison was a major resource for their traditional way of life (food source, hides for clothing and shelter, and horns and bones for tools).<ref name="Smits1994"/><ref name="buffalo genocide"/> Recovery efforts expanded in the mid-20th century, with a resurgence to roughly 31,000 wild bison as of March 2019.<ref name="iucn"/> For many years, the population was primarily found in a few national parks and reserves. Through multiple [[reintroduction]]s, the species now freely roams wild in several regions in the [[United States]], [[Canada]] and [[Mexico]], others are kept in smaller natural areas as conservation herds, while some are also kept in private commercial herds. The American bison has also been introduced to [[Sakha Republic|Yakutia]] in [[Russia]].<ref name="r383">{{cite web | last=Pare | first=Sascha | title=Bison are being introduced to the Russian Arctic to replace extinct woolly mammoths. But why? | website=livescience.com | date=August 9, 2023 | url=https://www.livescience.com/animals/land-mammals/bison-are-being-introduced-to-the-russian-arctic-to-replace-extinct-woolly-mammoths-but-why | access-date=July 19, 2024}}</ref>

Spanning back [[Bison hunting#Prehistoric and native hunting|millennia]], [[Plains Indians|Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains]] have had cultural and spiritual connections to the American bison. It is the [[National symbols of the United States|national mammal of the United States]].

==Etymology==
[[File:American Bison AdF.jpg|thumb|left|Adult male (behind) and adult female (in front), in [[Yellowstone National Park]]]]

In American English, both ''buffalo'' and ''bison'' are considered correct terms for the American bison.<ref>{{cite web|title=Buffalo Facts|url=https://www.animalfactsencyclopedia.com/Buffalo-facts.html|access-date=August 11, 2020|website=Animal Facts Encyclopedia|language=en-us}}</ref> However, in British English, the word ''buffalo'' is reserved for the [[African buffalo]] and [[water buffalo]] and not used for the bison.<ref>{{cite web|last=Tikkanen|first=Amy|title=What's the Difference Between Bison and Buffalo? |url=https://www.britannica.com/story/whats-the-difference-between-buffalo-and-bison|url-status=live|access-date=January 14, 2022|publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802155420/https://www.britannica.com/story/whats-the-difference-between-buffalo-and-bison |archive-date=August 2, 2020 }}</ref>

In English usage, the term ''buffalo'' was used to refer to the American mammal as early as 1625.<ref>''[http://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=buffalo#B5544800 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language]'', Fifth Edition:</ref> The word ''bison'' was applied in the 1690s.<ref name=bisonetymology/>

''Buffalo'' was applied to the American bison by [[Samuel de Champlain]] as the French word ''buffles'' in 1616 (published 1619), after seeing skins and a drawing. These were shown to him by members of the [[Nipissing First Nation]], who said they traveled forty days (from east of Lake Huron) to trade with another nation who hunted the animals.<ref>Champlain, Samuel, Henry P. Biggar. 1929. The Works of Samuel de Champlain, vol 3. Toronto: Champlain Society. p. 105.</ref> ''Buffel'' in turn comes from Portuguese ''bufalo'' (water buffalo), which comes from Latin ''bufalus'' (an antelope, gazelle, or wild ox), from Greek ''boubalos''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/buffalo|title=buffalo (n.)|publisher=Online Etymology Dictionary|access-date=Apr 3, 2023}}</ref> The same Greek word ''boubalos'' is also the origin for the [[Bubal hartebeest]].

''Bison'' was borrowed from French ''bison'' in the early 17th century, from Latin ''bison'' ([[aurochs]]), from a Proto-Germanic word similar to [[wisent]] and, per Etymonline, first applied to American buffalo in the 1690s.<ref name=bisonetymology>{{cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/bison|title=bison (n.)|publisher=Online Etymology Dictionary|access-date=Apr 3, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bison|title=bison noun|date=May 12, 2023 |publisher=Merriam Webster}}</ref>

In [[Plains Indian]] languages in general, male and female bison are distinguished, with each having a different designation rather than there being a single generic word covering both sexes. Thus:
* in [[Arapaho language|Arapaho]]: {{lang|arp|bii}} (bison cow), {{lang|arp|henéécee}} (bison bull)
* in [[Lakota language|Lakota]]: {{lang|lkt|pté}} (bison cow), {{lang|lkt|tȟatȟáŋka}} (bison bull)
Such a distinction is not a general feature of the language (for example, Arapaho possesses gender-neutral terms for other large mammals such as elk, mule deer, etc.), and so presumably is due to the special significance of the bison in Plains Indian life and culture.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

==Description==
[[File:Bison bison Wichita Mountain Oklahoma.jpg|thumb|right|Male plains bison in the [[Wichita Mountains]] of [[Oklahoma]]]]
[[File:Bison skeleton at MAV-USP.jpg|thumb|Skeleton of plains bison]]
[[File:Muybridge Buffalo galloping.gif|thumb|Plains bison galloping, photos by [[Eadweard Muybridge]], first published in 1887 in ''Animal Locomotion'']]
A bison has a shaggy, long, dark-brown winter coat, and a lighter-weight, lighter-brown summer coat. Male bison are significantly larger and heavier than females.<ref name="Van1986" /> Plains bison are often in the smaller range of sizes, and wood bison in the larger range. Head-rump lengths at maximum up to {{convert|3.5|m|ftin|abbr=on}} for males and {{convert|2.85|m|ftin|abbr=on}} for females long and the tail adding {{convert|30|to|95|cm|ftin|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Van1986" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Halloran |first=F.A. |year=1960 |title=American Bison Weights and Measurements from the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge |journal=Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science |pages=212–218 |url=https://ojs.library.okstate.edu/osu/index.php/OAS/article/view/4160/3833 |format=PDF}}</ref><ref name=YukagirBison/> Heights at [[withers]] in the species can reach up to {{convert|186|to|201|cm|ftin|abbr=on}} for ''B. b. bison'' and ''B. b. athabascae'' respectively.<ref name="YukagirBison">{{Cite journal |last1=Boeskorov |first1=Gennady G. |last2=Potapova |first2=Olga R. |last3=Protopopov |first3=Albert V. |last4=Plotnikov |first4=Valery V. |last5=Agenbroad |first5=Larry D. |last6=Kirikov |first6=Konstantin S. |last7=Pavlov |first7=Innokenty S. |last8=Shchelchkova |first8=Marina V. |last9=Belolyubskii |first9=Innocenty N. |last10=Tomshin |first10=Mikhail D. |last11=Kowalczyk |first11=Rafal |last12=Davydov |first12=Sergey P. |last13=Kolesov |first13=Stanislav D. |last14=Tikhonov |first14=Alexey N. |last15=van der Plicht |first15=Johannes |date=2016-06-25 |title=The Yukagir Bison: The exterior morphology of a complete frozen mummy of the extinct steppe bison, Bison priscus from the early Holocene of northern Yakutia, Russia |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1040618215012100 |journal=Quaternary International |language=en |volume=406 |issue=Part B |pages=94–110 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2015.11.084|bibcode=2016QuInt.406...94B }}</ref> Typically weights can range from {{convert|318|to|1179|kg|lb|abbr=on}},<ref name=YukagirBison/><ref name=Meagher1986>{{cite journal|last1=Meagher|first1=M.|title=Bison bison|journal=Mammalian Species|date=1986|issue=266|pages=1–8|url=http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-266-01-0001.pdf|jstor=3504019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111229105651/http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-266-01-0001.pdf|archive-date=December 29, 2011}}</ref><ref name="McDonald, J. 1981">{{Cite book |last=McDonald |first=J. |title=North American Bison: Their classification and Evolution |publisher=University of California Press |year=1981 |location=Berkeley, Los Angeles, London}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theanimalfiles.com/mammals/hoofed_mammals/bison_american.html|title=American Bison: The Animal Files|website=www.theanimalfiles.com}}</ref> {{convert|460|to|988|kg|lb|abbr=on}} with medians of {{convert|730|to|792.5|kg|lb|abbr=on}} (''B.b. bison'') and {{convert|943.6|kg|lb|abbr=on}} (''B.b.athabascae'') in males, and {{convert|360|to|640|kg|lb|abbr=on}} with medians of {{convert|450|to|497.6|kg|lb|abbr=on}} in females,<ref name="Van1986" /> although the lowest weights probably representing typical weight around the age of sexual maturity at 2 to 3 years of age.<ref name="Castelló">{{Cite book |last=Castelló |first=J.R. |title=Bovids of the World: Antelopes, Gazelles, Cattle, Goats, Sheep, and Relatives |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Berger |first1=J. |last2=Peacock |first2=M. |date=1988-08-30 |title=Variability in Size-Weight Relationships of Bison bison |url=https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article-lookup/doi/10.2307/1381357 |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |language=en |volume=69 |issue=3 |pages=618–624 |doi=10.2307/1381357 |jstor=1381357 |issn=1545-1542|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rutberg |first=A. T. |date=1984-08-24 |title=Birth Synchrony in American Bison (Bison bison): Response to Predation or Season? |url=https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article-lookup/doi/10.2307/1381088 |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |language=en |volume=65 |issue=3 |pages=418–423 |doi=10.2307/1381088 |jstor=1381088 |issn=1545-1542|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rutberg |first=Allen T. |date=1986 |title=Dominance and Its Fitness Consequences in American Bison Cows |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/beh/96/1-2/article-p62_5.xml |journal=Behaviour |volume=96 |issue=1–2 |pages=62–91 |doi=10.1163/156853986X00225 |issn=0005-7959|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Roden |first1=Catherine |last2=Vervaecke |first2=Hilde |last3=Van Elsacker |first3=Linda |date=July 2005 |title=Dominance, age and weight in American bison males (Bison bison) during non-rut in semi-natural conditions |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S016815910400245X |journal=Applied Animal Behaviour Science |language=en |volume=92 |issue=1–2 |pages=169–177 |doi=10.1016/j.applanim.2004.10.005|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Van1986" />

The heaviest wild bull for ''B.b.bison'' ever recorded weighed {{convert|1270|kg|lb|abbr=on}}<ref>{{cite book|author1=Joel Berger|author2=Carol Cunningham|title=Bison: mating and conservation in small populations|date=June 1994|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-08456-7|page=162}}</ref> while there had been bulls estimated to be {{convert|3000|lb|kg|abbr=on|order= flip}}.<ref name="AllAboutBison" /> ''B.b.athabascae'' is significantly larger and heavier on average than ''B.b.bison'' while the number of recorded samples for the former was limited after the rediscovery of a relatively pure herd.<ref name="Van1986">{{Cite book |last=Van Zyll de Jong |first=C. G |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/111563 |title=A systematic study of recent bison, with particular consideration of the wood bison (Bison bison athabascae Rhoads 1898 |publisher=National Museum of Natural Sciences |year=1986 |series=Publications in natural sciences |volume=6 |page=37}}</ref> [[Elk Island National Park]], which has wild populations of both wood and plains bison, has recorded maximum weights for bull bison of {{cvt|1186|kg|lbs}} (plains) and {{cvt|1099|kg|lbs}} (wood), but noted that 3/4 of all bison over {{cvt|1000|kg|lbs}} were wood bison. When raised in captivity and farmed for meat, the bison can grow unnaturally heavy and the largest semidomestic bison weighed {{convert|1724|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Meagher1986" /> The heads and forequarters are massive, and both sexes have short, curved horns that can grow up to {{convert|60|cm|ft|0|abbr=on}} long with {{convert|90|cm|ft|0|abbr=on}} to {{convert|124|cm|ft|0|abbr=on}} width,<ref>William Henry Burt, 1976, A Field Guide to the Mammals: North America North of Mexico, p.224, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt</ref><ref name="AllAboutBison">{{cite web|url=https://allaboutbison.com/legendary-bison-bulls/|title=Legendary Bison Bulls|website=allaboutbison.com}}</ref> which they use in fighting for status within the herd and for defense.

Bison are [[herbivory|herbivores]], grazing on the grasses and [[Cyperaceae|sedges]] of the North American [[prairie]]s. Their daily schedule involves two-hour periods of grazing, resting, and cud chewing, then moving to a new location to graze again. Sexually mature young bulls may try to start mating with cows by the age of two or three years, but if more mature bulls are present, they may not be able to compete until they reach five years of age.

For the first two months of life, calves are lighter in color than mature bison. Though extremely rare, [[white buffalo|white buffalos]] exist.

==Evolution==
Bison are members of the tribe [[Bovini]]. Genetic evidence from [[nuclear DNA]] indicates that the closest living relatives of bison are [[Wild yak|yaks]], with bison being nested within the genus ''[[Bos]],'' rendering ''Bos'' without including bison [[paraphyletic]]. While nuclear DNA indicates that the two living bison species are each other's closest living relatives, the [[mitochondrial DNA]] of European bison is more closely related to that of domestic cattle and [[aurochs]], which is suggested to be the result of either [[incomplete lineage sorting]] or ancient [[introgression]].<ref name="WangEtal2018">{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Kun |last2=Lenstra |first2=Johannes A. |last3=Liu |first3=Liang |last4=Hu |first4=Quanjun |last5=Ma |first5=Tao |last6=Qiu |first6=Qiang |last7=Liu |first7=Jianquan |date=2018-10-19 |title=Incomplete lineage sorting rather than hybridization explains the inconsistent phylogeny of the wisent |journal=Communications Biology |language=en |volume=1 |issue=1 |page=169 |doi=10.1038/s42003-018-0176-6 |pmid=30374461 |pmc=6195592 |issn=2399-3642}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Grange|first1=Thierry|last2=Brugal|first2=Jean-Philip|last3=Flori|first3=Laurence|last4=Gautier|first4=Mathieu|last5=Uzunidis|first5=Antigone|last6=Geigl|first6=Eva-Maria|date=September 2018|title=The Evolution and Population Diversity of Bison in Pleistocene and Holocene Eurasia: Sex Matters|journal=Diversity|language=en|volume=10|issue=3|page=65|doi=10.3390/d10030065|doi-access=free|bibcode=2018Diver..10...65G }}</ref> 

Bison first appeared in Asia during the [[Early Pleistocene]], around 2.6 million years ago.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Sorbelli|first1=Leonardo|last2=Alba|first2=David M.|last3=Cherin|first3=Marco|last4=Moullé|first4=Pierre-Élie|last5=Brugal|first5=Jean-Philip|last6=Madurell-Malapeira|first6=Joan|date=June 1, 2021|title=A review on Bison schoetensacki and its closest relatives through the early-Middle Pleistocene transition: Insights from the Vallparadís Section (NE Iberian Peninsula) and other European localities|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379121001402|journal=Quaternary Science Reviews|language=en|volume=261|article-number=106933|doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.106933|bibcode=2021QSRv..26106933S|s2cid=235527116|issn=0277-3791}}</ref> Bison only arrived in North America 195,000 to 135,000 years ago, during the late [[Middle Pleistocene]], descending from the widespread Siberian [[steppe bison]] (''Bison priscus''), which had migrated through [[Beringia]]. Following their first appearance in North America, the bison rapidly [[Speciation|differentiated into new species]], such as the largest of all bison, the long-horned ''[[Bison latifrons]]'', along with ''[[Bison antiquus]]''. The first appearance of bison in North America is considered to define the regional [[Rancholabrean]] faunal stage, due to its major impact on the [[ecology]] of the continent.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Froese|first1=Duane|last2=Stiller|first2=Mathias|last3=Heintzman|first3=Peter D.|last4=Reyes|first4=Alberto V.|last5=Zazula|first5=Grant D.|last6=Soares|first6=André E. R.|last7=Meyer|first7=Matthias|last8=Hall|first8=Elizabeth|last9=Jensen|first9=Britta J. L.|last10=Arnold|first10=Lee J.|last11=MacPhee|first11=Ross D. E.|date=March 28, 2017|title=Fossil and genomic evidence constrains the timing of bison arrival in North America|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|language=en|volume=114|issue=13|pages=3457–3462|doi=10.1073/pnas.1620754114|issn=0027-8424|pmid=28289222|pmc=5380047|bibcode=2017PNAS..114.3457F|doi-access=free}}</ref> Modern American bison are thought to have evolved from ''B. antiquus'' at the end of the [[Late Pleistocene]] - beginning of the [[Holocene]], with likely intermediates between the species referred to as ''[[Bison occidentalis|Bison "occidentalis"]]''.<ref name="Wilsonetal.2008">{{cite journal|last1=Wilson|first1=M.C.|last2=Hills|first2=L.V.|last3=Shapiro|first3=B.|year=2008|title=Late Pleistocene northward-dispersing ''Bison antiquus'' from the Bighill Creek Formation, Gallelli Gravel Pit, Alberta, Canada, and the fate of ''Bison occidentalis''|journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences|volume=45|issue=7|pages=827–59|bibcode=2008CaJES..45..827W|doi=10.1139/E08-027}}</ref> The North American bison population experienced demographic stability during the [[Middle Holocene]] but began a slow decline in the Late Holocene beginning about 2,700 BP.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ovchinnikov |first1=Igor V. |last2=McCann |first2=Blake |date=14 July 2023 |title=Mitogenomes revealed the history of bison colonization of Northern Plains after the Last Glacial Maximum |journal=[[Scientific Reports]] |language=en |volume=13 |issue=1 |page=11417 |doi=10.1038/s41598-023-37599-8 |pmid=37452114 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=10349043 |bibcode=2023NatSR..1311417O }}</ref>

===Differences from European bison===
[[File:European Bison.JPG|thumb|left|An adult European bison]]
Although they are superficially similar, the American and [[European bison]] exhibit a number of physical and behavioral differences. Adult American bison are slightly heavier on average because of their less rangy build and have shorter legs, which render them slightly shorter at the shoulder.<ref>''Trophy Bowhunting: Plan the Hunt of a Lifetime and Bag One for the Record Books'', by Rick Sapp, Edition: illustrated, published by Stackpole Books, 2006, {{ISBN|0-8117-3315-7}}, {{ISBN|978-0-8117-3315-1}}</ref> American bison tend to [[Grazing (behaviour)|graze]] more and [[Browsing (herbivory)|browse]] less than their European relatives because their necks are set differently. Compared to the nose of the American bison, that of the European species is set farther forward than the forehead when the neck is in a neutral position. The body of the American bison is hairier, though its tail has less hair than that of the European bison. The horns of the European bison point forward through the plane of its face, making it more adept at fighting through the interlocking of horns in the same manner as domestic cattle, unlike the American bison, which favors charging.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lott |first=Dale F. |title=American bison: a natural history |date=2002 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-24062-9 |series=Organisms and environments |location=Berkeley}}</ref> American bison are more easily tamed than the European and breed more readily with domestic cattle.<ref>Newman, Edward and James Edmund Harting (1859). ''Zoologist: A Monthly Journal of Natural History'' Published by J. Van Voorst.</ref>

===Crossbreeding with cattle===
During the population bottleneck, after the great slaughter of American bison during the 19th century, the number of bison remaining alive in North America declined to as low as 541. During that period, a handful of ranchers gathered remnants of the existing herds to save the species from extinction. These ranchers bred some of the bison with cattle in an effort to produce "cattalo" or "[[beefalo]]".<ref name=Halbert2007>{{cite journal |author1=Halbert, N |author2=Gogan, P |author3=Hiebert, R |author4=Derr, J |year=2007 |title=Where the buffalo roam: The role of history and genetics in the conservation of bison on U.S. federal lands |url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/parkscience/index.htm |journal=Park Science |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=22–29 |bibcode=2007PaSci..24...22H |access-date=November 4, 2012 |archive-date=March 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303115257/http://nature.nps.gov/parkscience/index.cfm?ArticleID=149 |url-status=live }}</ref> Accidental crossings were also known to occur. Generally, male domestic bulls were crossed with bison cows, producing offspring of which only the females were fertile. The crossbred animals did not demonstrate any form of [[hybrid vigor]], so the practice was abandoned. The proportion of cattle DNA that has been measured in introgressed individuals and bison herds today is typically quite low, ranging from 0.56 to 1.8%.<ref name=Halbert2007/><ref name=Polziehn>{{cite journal|doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.1995.09061638.x|author1=Polziehn, R |author2=Strobeck, C |author3=Sheraton, J |author4=Beech, R |s2cid=85575841 |year=1995|title=Bovine mtDNA Discovered in North American Bison Populations|journal= Conservation Biology|volume=9|issue=6|pages=1638–1643 (1642)|bibcode=1995ConBi...9.1638P }}</ref> Many claimed "beefalo", even those regarded as pedigree, have no detectable bison ancestry.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Shapiro |first1=Beth |last2=Oppenheimer |first2=Jonas |display-authors=1 |date=2024 |title=Most Beefalo cattle have no detectable bison genetic ancestry |url=https://elifesciences.org/reviewed-preprints/102750v1 |journal=eLife |volume=13 |doi=10.7554/elife.102750.1.sa3 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In the [[United States]], many ranchers are now using DNA testing to cull the residual cattle genetics from their bison herds. The U.S. National Bison Association has adopted a code of ethics which prohibits its members from deliberately crossbreeding bison with any other species.<ref>{{cite web |title=FAQ |url=https://bisoncentral.com/faq/ |access-date=March 18, 2022 |website=National Bison Association |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Range and population==
{{Further|Conservation of American bison}}
[[File:Bison herd grazing at the National Bison Range.jpg|thumb|Bison herd grazing at the [[CSKT Bison Range]] in Montana.]]
Population estimates in 2010 ranged from 400,000 to 500,000, with approximately 20,500 animals in 62 conservation herds and the remainder in approximately 6,400 commercial herds.<ref>{{USFWS|article=Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants: 90-Day Finding on a Petition To List the Wild Plains Bison or Each of Four Distinct Population Segments as Threatened|url=https://www.fws.gov/policy/library/2011/2011-4121.html}}</ref><ref name="staff">{{cite news |author=staff |url=https://ens-newswire.com/restoring-north-americas-wild-bison-to-their-home-on-the-range/ |title=Restoring North America's Wild Bison to Their Home on the Range |publisher=Environment News Service |date=March 3, 2010 |access-date=February 19, 2011 }}</ref> According to the [[IUCN]], roughly 15,000 bison are considered wild, free-range bison not primarily confined by fencing.

[[The Nature Conservancy]] (TNC) has reintroduced bison to over a dozen nature preserves around the United States. In October 2016, TNC established its easternmost bison herd in the country, at [[Kankakee Sands]] nature preserve in [[Morocco, Indiana|Morocco]], [[Newton County, Indiana]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.southshorecva.com/discovernewtoncounty/bison/|title=Bison Come to Kankakee Sands|website=The Nature Conservancy|date=August 29, 2017 |access-date=September 20, 2018}}</ref> In 2014, U.S. Tribes and Canadian First Nations signed a treaty to help with the restoration of bison, the first to be signed in nearly 150 years.<ref>{{cite web|last=Stallard|first=Brian|date=September 25, 2014|title=Tribe Treaty to Restore Wild Bison up North|url=https://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/9183/20140925/tribe-treaty-restore-bison-up-north.htm|access-date=August 6, 2021|website=Nature World News|language=en}}</ref>

===Habitat and trails===
{{See also|Great bison belt}}
[[File:Bison fight in Grand Teton NP.jpg|thumb|right|Bison sparring in [[Grand Teton National Park]] in [[Moose, Wyoming]].]]
American bison live in river valleys, and on prairies and plains. Typical habitat is open or semiopen grasslands, as well as sagebrush, semiarid lands, and scrublands. Some lightly wooded areas are also known historically to have supported bison. Bison also graze in hilly or mountainous areas where the slopes are not steep. Though not particularly known as high-altitude animals, bison in the [[Yellowstone Park bison herd]] are frequently found at elevations above {{convert|8000|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}}, and the [[Henry Mountains bison herd]] is found on the plains around the [[Henry Mountains]], Utah, as well as in mountain valleys of the Henry Mountains to an altitude of {{convert|10000|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}}. Reintroduced plains bison in [[Banff National Park]] have been observed to roam mountainous areas, including high ridges and steep drainages. Archaeological finds indicate some bison to spent their lives within mountain ranges while others may have migrated in and out.<ref>Banff National Park, [https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/ab/banff/info/gestion-management/bison/blog Bison blog], ''August 11, 2018: Bison are exploring Banff in new ways'', ''April 30, 2019: This old bone - discovering the bison of Banff's past'', [[Parks Canada]]</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1= Zier-Vogel |first1= Adam |last2 = Karsten |first2= Heuer |date=2022-09-01 |title= The First 3 Years: Movements of Reintroduced Plains Bison (Bison bison bison) in Banff National Park |url= https://www.researchgate.net/publication/364396892 |journal= Diversity |volume= 14 |number= 10 |page= 883 |doi= 10.3390/d14100883 |publisher= [[MDPI]] |doi-access= free |bibcode= 2022Diver..14..883Z |via= ResearchGate|language=en}}</ref>

Those in Yukon, Canada, typically summer in alpine plateaus above treeline.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Jung|first1=Thomas S.|last2=Stotyn|first2=Shannon A.|last3=Czetwertynski|first3=Sophie M.|date=2015|title=Dietary overlap and potential competition in a dynamic ungulate community in Northwestern Canada|url=https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jwmg.946|journal=Journal of Wildlife Management|language=en|volume=79|issue=8|pages=1277–1285|doi=10.1002/jwmg.946|bibcode=2015JWMan..79.1277J |issn=1937-2817|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The first thoroughfares of North America, except for the time-obliterated paths of [[mastodon]] or [[muskox]] and the routes of the [[Mound builder (people)|mound builders]], were the traces made by bison and [[deer]] in seasonal migration and between feeding grounds and [[salt lick]]s. Many of these routes, hammered by countless hoofs instinctively following watersheds and the crests of ridges in avoidance of lower places' summer muck and winter snowdrifts, and often following the routes of least resistance across rolling terrain, were followed by the aboriginal North Americans as routes to hunting grounds and as warriors' paths. They were invaluable to explorers and were adopted by [[Territorial acquisitions of the United States|pioneers]].

Bison traces were characteristically north and south along seasonal migration routes, but several key east–west buffalo trails were used later as routes for railways. Some of these include the [[Cumberland Gap]] through the [[Blue Ridge Mountains]] to upper [[Kentucky]]. A heavily used [[Buffalo Trace (road)|trace]] crossed the [[Ohio River]] at the [[Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area|Falls of the Ohio]] and ran west, crossing the [[Wabash River]] near [[Vincennes, Indiana]]. In Senator [[Thomas Hart Benton (senator)|Thomas Hart Benton]]'s phrase saluting these sagacious path-makers, the bison paved the way for the railroads to the Pacific.<ref>{{cite book| last =Adams| first =James Truslow| title =Dictionary of American History| publisher =[[Charles Scribner's Sons]]| year =1940| location =New York| isbn =978-0-8226-0349-8}}</ref>

===Mexico===
[[File:Buffalo in Chihuahua.jpg|thumb|Bison herd grazing in [[Chihuahua (state)|Chihuahua]], Mexico.]]
The southern extent of the historic range of the American bison includes northern Mexico and adjoining areas in the United States as documented by archeological records and historical accounts from Mexican archives from 700&nbsp;CE to the 19th century. The Janos-Hidalgo bison herd has ranged between Chihuahua, Mexico, and New Mexico, United States, since at least the 1920s.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Historic Distribution and Challenges to Bison Recovery in the Northern Chihuahuan Desert |author1=Rurik List |author2=Gerardo Ceballos |author3=Charles Curtin |author4=Peter J.P. Gogan |author5=Jesus Pacheco |author6=Joe Truett |journal=Conservation Biology |date=November 7, 2007 |volume=21 |number=6 |pages=1487–1494 |doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.2007.00810.x |pmid=18173472 |bibcode=2007ConBi..21.1487L |s2cid=30828514 }}</ref> The persistence of this herd suggests that habitat for bison is suitable in northern Mexico. In 2009, genetically pure bison were reintroduced to the [[Janos Biosphere Reserve]] in northern [[Chihuahua (state)|Chihuahua]] adding to the Mexican bison population.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Janos Biosphere Reserve, Northern Mexico |author1=Rurik List |author2=Jesus Pacheco |author3=Eduardo Ponce |author4=Rodrigo Sierra-Corona |author5=Gerardo Ceballos |journal=The Journal of International Wilderness |date=August 2010 |volume=16 |number=2 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/220048616 |via=ResearchGate |access-date=September 20, 2018 }}</ref> In 2020, the second herd was formed in [[Maderas del Carmen]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Cemex aids reintroduction of American bison in Northern Mexico |url=https://www.globalcement.com/news/item/10534-cemex-aids-reintroduction-of-american-bison-in-northern-mexico|access-date=August 11, 2020|website=Global Cement |date=March 4, 2020 }}</ref> A private reserve named Jagüey de Ferniza has kept bison since before the above-mentioned reintroductions in Coahuila.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://jagueydeferniza.com/bisonte-americano|title=Fraccionamiento Campestre|access-date=May 13, 2021|archive-date=May 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513030433/https://jagueydeferniza.com/bisonte-americano}}</ref>

===Introductions to Siberia===
{{main|:ru:Реинтродукция бизонов в Сибири}}
[[File:Круиз Якутск - Ленские столбы - Тикси - Якутск, 2017 (043).jpg|thumb|Wood bison introduction program in Sakha Republic.]]
Since 2006, an outherd of wood bison sent from Alberta's [[Elk Island National Park]] was established in [[Sakha Republic|Yakutia]], [[Russia]]<ref>CBC News, [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-bison-bound-for-russia-1.980607 "Alberta bison bound for Russia"], February 14, 2011</ref><ref>Edmonton Journal, [http://www2.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/cityplus/story.html?id=462cf6a8-bdb5-436b-a4a1-f0cd3c28896a "Elk Island wood bison big hit in Russia"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129103118/http://www2.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/cityplus/story.html?id=462cf6a8-bdb5-436b-a4a1-f0cd3c28896a |date=November 29, 2014 }}, Hanneke Brooymans, August 5, 2010</ref><ref>Edmonton Journal, [http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/story.html?id=a7279811-b2b0-4c54-9e95-e43b42c74e6c&k=0 "Bison troubles"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110070338/http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/story.html?id=a7279811-b2b0-4c54-9e95-e43b42c74e6c&k=0 |date=November 10, 2012 }}, CanWest MediaWorks Publications, October 5, 2006</ref> as a practice of [[pleistocene rewilding]]; wood bison are the most similar to the extinct [[steppe bison]] species (''Bison priscus sp.''). The bison are adapting well to the cold climate,<ref>CBC News, [http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/more-alberta-bison-to-roam-russia-1.1391014 "More Alberta bison to roam Russia"], September 23, 2013</ref> and Yakutia's Red List officially registered the species in 2019; a second herd was formed in 2020.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tass.com/society/1070217|title=Wood bison to be listed in Yakutia's Red Data Book|website=TASS}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://dbr-yakutia.ru/v-suntarskom-uluse-zaselilis-lesnye/ |title=Archived copy |access-date=March 21, 2020 |archive-date=March 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200321073400/http://dbr-yakutia.ru/v-suntarskom-uluse-zaselilis-lesnye/ }}</ref>

Plains bison were also translocated into the [[Pleistocene Park]], as more-favored wood bison could not be acquired.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pleistocene Park |url=https://peacemagazine.org/archive/PleistocenePark.htm |website=[[Peace Magazine]] |access-date=2025-07-10 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite tweet |author=Pleistocene Park |user= PleistocenePark |number=1046195042828742656 |title=Agreed. Canadian wood bison where always the best species for the Arctic. However they are extremely difficult to get. We will try to get wood bison again but the odds are not great so far. If you have any leads please pass them on. AKDFG will not give us any. Tried. Nor Parks CA}}</ref>

==Behavior and ecology==
[[File:Bison bison grazing in snow (Yellowstone).ogv|thumb|right|Grazing in winter, Yellowstone National Park: Bison use their heads to clear out snow for the grass]]
Bison are migratory and herd migrations can be directional as well as altitudinal in some areas.<ref name=Meagher1973>{{cite journal|author=Meagher M |year=1973 |title=The bison of Yellowstone National Park |url=http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/bison1973.htm |journal=National Park Service Science Monographs |volume=1 |pages=1–161 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629031320/http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/bison1973.htm |archive-date=June 29, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Van Vuren, D. |year=1983|title=Group dynamics and summer home range of bison in southern Utah|journal=Journal of Mammalogy|volume=64|pages=329–332|jstor=1380570|issue=2|doi=10.2307/1380570}}</ref><ref name=McHugh1958>{{cite journal|author=McHugh, T. |year=1958 |title=Social behavior of the American buffalo (''Bison bison bison'')|journal=Zoologica|volume= 43|pages=1–40|url=http://biostor.org/reference/197369}}</ref> Bison have usual daily movements between foraging sites during the summer. In the Hayden Valley, Wyoming, bison have been recorded traveling, on average, {{convert|2|mi|km|0|order=flip|abbr=on}} per day.<ref name=McHugh1958/> The summer ranges of bison appear to be influenced by seasonal vegetation changes, interspersion and size of foraging sites, the [[Rut (mammalian reproduction)|rut]], and the number of biting insects.<ref name=Meagher1973/> The size of preserve and availability of water may also be a factor.<ref name=McHugh1958/> Bison are largely grazers, eating primarily grasses and sedges, but when food is scarce, they will eat vegetation such as sagebrush.<ref name="animaldiversity.org">{{cite web | url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Bison_bison/ | title=ADW: Bison bison: INFORMATION - Animal Diversity Web | website=[[Animal Diversity Web]] }}</ref> On shortgrass pasture, bison predominately consume warm-season grasses.<ref>{{cite journal|author= Peden, D. G. Van Dyne|author2= R. Rice|author3= R. Hansen |year=1974 |jstor=2402203|title=The trophic ecology of Bison bison L. on shortgrass plains|journal=Journal of Applied Ecology|volume=11|issue=2|pages=489–497|doi= 10.2307/2402203|bibcode= 1974JApEc..11..489P}}</ref> On mixed prairie, cool-season grasses, including some sedges, apparently compose 79–96% of their diet.<ref>Popp, Jewel Kay. (1981). "Range Ecology of Bison on Mixed Grass Prairie at Wind Cave National Park". Unpubl. M.S. Thesis. Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. 59 p.</ref> In montane and northern areas, sedges are selected throughout the year.<ref name=Meagher1973/> Bison also drink water or consume snow on a daily basis.<ref name=McHugh1958/>

===Social behavior and reproduction===
[[File:Bison - Tall Grass Prairie Preserve - panoramio - Photog (2).jpg|thumb|upright|253px|A herd of American bison grazing at [[Tallgrass Prairie Preserve|Tall Grass Prairie Preserve]] in [[Osage County, Oklahoma|Osage County]], Oklahoma]]
Female bison live in maternal herds which include other females and their offspring. Male offspring leave their maternal herd when around three years old and either live alone or join other males in bachelor herds. Male and female herds usually do not mingle until the breeding season, which can occur from July through September.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/americanbison.htm |title=American Bison – Bison bison |publisher=NatureWorks |access-date=February 5, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140217111722/http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/americanbison.htm |archive-date=February 17, 2014 }}</ref> However, female herds may also contain a few older males. During the breeding season, dominant bulls maintain a small harem of females for mating. Individual bulls "tend" cows until allowed to mate, by following them around and chasing away rival males. The tending bull shields the female's vision with his body so she will not see any other challenging males. A challenging bull may [[bellow (sound)|bellow]] or [[roar]] to get a female's attention, and the tending bull has to bellow or roar back.<ref name="Wolf, 1998"/> The most dominant bulls mate in the first 2–3 weeks of the season.<ref name="Wolf, 1998">{{cite journal|author=Wolff, J. O. |year=1998|title=Breeding strategies, mate choice, and reproductive success in American bison|journal= Okios |volume=83|issue=2|pages=529–544|jstor=3546680|doi=10.2307/3546680|bibcode=1998Oikos..83..529W }}</ref> More subordinate bulls mate with any remaining [[Estrous cycle|estrous]] cow that has not mated yet. Male bison play no part in raising the young.

[[File:Juraparc 06-07-2013 - Buffalo calf.jpg|right|thumb|Calf]]
[[File:Junger Präriebison (Zoo Köln) (1).jpg|left|thumb|A cow suckling calf at the [[Cologne Zoological Garden]] in [[Cologne]], [[Germany]]]]
Bison herds have dominance hierarchies that exist for both males and females. A bison's dominance is related to its birth date.<ref name="Green and Rothstein, 1993">{{cite journal | author = Green W. C. H. R., Aron  | year = 1993 | title = Persistent influences of birth date on dominance, growth and reproductive success in bison | journal = Journal of Zoology | volume = 230 | issue = 2| pages = 177–185 | doi = 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1993.tb02680.x }}</ref> Bison born earlier in the breeding season are more likely to be larger and more dominant as adults.<ref name="Green and Rothstein, 1993"/> Thus, bison are able to pass on their dominance to their offspring as dominant bison breed earlier in the season. In addition to dominance, the older bison of a generation also have a higher fertility rate than the younger ones.<ref name="Green and Rothstein, 1993"/>

Bison mate in August and September; gestation is 285 days. A single reddish-brown calf nurses until the next calf is born. If the cow is not pregnant, a calf will nurse for 18 months. Cows nurse their calves for at least 7 or 8 months, but most calves seem to be weaned before the end of their first year.<ref name=McHugh1958/> At three years of age, bison cows are mature enough to produce a calf. The birthing period for bison in boreal biomes is protracted compared to that of other northern ungulates, such as moose and caribou.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Jung|first1=Thomas S.|last2=Larter|first2=Nicholas C.|last3=Powell|first3=Todd|date=2018|title=Early and late births in high-latitude populations of free-ranging Bison (Bison bison)|url=https://www.canadianfieldnaturalist.ca/index.php/cfn/article/view/1983|journal=Canadian Field-Naturalist|language=en|volume=132|issue=3|pages=219–222|doi=10.22621/cfn.v132i3.1983|issn=0008-3550|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Bison have a life expectancy around 15 years in the wild and up to 25 years in captivity. However, males and females from a hunted population also subject to wolf predation in northern Canada have been reported to live to 22 and 25 years of age, respectively.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Jung|first=Thomas S.|date=October 8, 2020|title=Longevity in a hunted population of reintroduced American bison (Bison bison)|journal=Mammal Research|volume=66|pages=237–243|language=en|doi=10.1007/s13364-020-00540-9|s2cid=225126531|issn=2199-241X}}</ref>

Bison have been observed to [[Homosexual behavior in animals#American bisons|display homosexual behaviors]], males much more so than females. In the case of males, it is unlikely to be related to [[dominance (ethology)|dominance]], but rather to social bonding or gaining sexual experience.<ref>Vervaecke H, Roden C. (2006). [https://books.google.com/books?id=KXM3F59y1jkC&pg=PA131 "Going with the herd: same-sex interaction and competition in American bison"]. In: Sommer V, Vasey PL, (editors). ''Homosexual behaviour in animals''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 131–53 {{ISBN|0-521-86446-1}}.</ref>

===Horning===
Bison mate in late spring and summer in more open plain areas. During fall and winter, bison tend to gather in more wooded areas. During this time, bison partake in horning behaviors. They rub their horns against trees, young saplings, and even utility poles. Aromatic trees like cedars and pine seem to be preferred. Horning appears to be associated with insect defense, as it occurs most often in the fall when the insect population is at its highest.<ref name=Coppedge1997>{{cite journal|author=Coppedge, B. R.|author2=Carter, T.S.|author3=Shaw, J.H.|author4=Hamilton, R.G. |year=1997|title=Agonistic behavior associated with orphan bison (''Bison bison'') claves released into a mixed resident population|journal=Applied Animal Behaviour Science|doi=10.1016/S0168-1591(97)00035-X|volume=55|issue=1–2|pages=1–10}}</ref> Cedar and pines emit an aroma after bison horn them and this seems to be used as a deterrent for insects.<ref name=Coppedge1997/>

===Wallowing behavior===
[[File:Bison wallowing in Little America Flats (d6de10f5-aa68-41b9-b06e-eea5470ffe66).JPG|thumb|right|A bison wallowing on dirt near [[Lamar River Canyon]]]] 
A [[buffalo wallow|bison wallow]] is a shallow depression in the soil, which bison use either wet or dry. Bison roll in these depressions, covering themselves with dust or mud. Past and current hypotheses to explain the purpose of wallowing include grooming associated with shedding, male-male interaction (typically [[Rut (mammalian reproduction)|rutting]]), social behavior for group cohesion, play, relief from skin irritation due to biting insects, reduction of [[ectoparasite]] ([[tick]] and [[lice]]) load, and [[thermoregulation]].<ref name="JSTOR">{{cite journal |first1=Brock R. |last1=McMillan |first2=Michael R. |last2=Cottam |first3=Donald W. |last3=Kaufman |year=2000 |title=Wallowing Behavior of American Bison (Bos Bison) in Tallgrass Prairie: An Examination of Alternate Explanations |journal=American Midland Naturalist |volume=144 |issue=1 |pages=159–67 |doi=10.1674/0003-0031(2000)144[0159:WBOABB]2.0.CO;2 |jstor=3083019 |s2cid=86223655 |issn=0003-0031 }}</ref> Bison wallowing has important [[ecosystem engineering]] effects and enhances plant and animal diversity on prairies.<ref>{{cite journal|title = Ecosystem engineering by bison (Bison bison) wallowing increases arthropod community heterogeneity in space and time|journal = Ecosphere|volume = 9|issue = 9|pages = e02436|doi = 10.1002/ecs2.2436|year = 2018|last1 = Nickell|first1 = Zachary|last2 = Varriano|first2 = Sofia|last3 = Plemmons|first3 = Eric|last4 = Moran|first4 = Matthew D.| bibcode=2018Ecosp...9E2436N |doi-access = free}}</ref>

===Predation===
[[File:Canis lupus pack surrounding Bison.jpg|thumb|right|American bison standing its ground against a [[northwestern wolf|wolf]] pack]]
[[File:File-Grizzly bear on bison carcass near Yellowstone Lake;-Jim Peaco;-April, 2013;-Catalog 19070d;-Original IMG9750 (04985491-b01a-4c42-a31c-5e76447bb7f7).jpg|right|thumb|A [[grizzly bear]] feeding on an American bison carcass.]]
While often secure from predation because of their size and strength, in some areas, vulnerable individuals are regularly preyed upon by [[wolves]]. Wolf predation typically peaks in late winter, when [[elk]] migrates south and bison are distressed with heavy snows and shortages of food sources,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://peopleandcarnivores.org/what-do-wolves-do-in-the-winter/ |title=What do wolves do in the winter? |access-date=June 17, 2020 |archive-date=June 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617035145/https://peopleandcarnivores.org/what-do-wolves-do-in-the-winter/ }}</ref> with attacks usually being concentrated on weakened and injured cows and calves.<ref name=BvW>{{Cite journal|url=https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article-abstract/81/4/1128/2372815?redirectedFrom=fulltext|title=Wolf–Bison Interactions in Yellowstone National Park|first1=Douglas W.|last1=Smith|first2=L. David|last2=Mech|first3=Mary|last3=Meagher|first4=Wendy E.|last4=Clark|first5=Rosemary|last5=Jaffe|first6=Michael K.|last6=Phillips|first7=John A.|last7=Mack|date=November 1, 2000|journal=Journal of Mammalogy|volume=81|issue=4|pages=1128–1135|via=Silverchair|doi=10.1644/1545-1542(2000)081<1128:WBIIYN>2.0.CO;2|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Jung|first=Thomas S.|date=2011|title=Gray wolf (Canis lupus) predation and scavenging of reintroduced American bison (Bison bison) in southwestern Yukon|url=https://bioone.org/journals/northwestern-naturalist/volume-92/issue-2/10-07.1/Gray-Wolf-Canis-lupus-Predation-and-Scavenging-of-Reintroduced-American/10.1898/10-07.1.full|journal=Northwestern Naturalist|volume=92|issue=2|pages=126–130|doi=10.1898/10-07.1|s2cid=86100204|issn=1051-1733|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Wolves more actively target herds with calves than those without. The length of a predation episode varies, ranging from a few minutes to over nine hours.<ref>{{cite book|author=Mary Ann Franke|title=To save the wild bison: life on the edge in Yellowstone|year=2005|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=978-0-8061-3683-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/tosavewildbisonl0000fran/page/199 199]|url=https://archive.org/details/tosavewildbisonl0000fran/page/199}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Douglas W. Smith|author2=Gary Ferguson|title=Decade of the Wolf: Returning the Wild to Yellowstone|date=November 1, 2006|publisher=Globe Pequot|isbn=978-1-59228-886-1|page=68}}</ref> Bison calves use five apparent defense strategies in protecting themselves from wolves: running to a cow, running to a herd, running to the nearest bull, running in the front or center of a stampeding herd, and entering a lake or river or other body of water. When fleeing wolves in open areas, cows with young calves take the lead, while bulls take to the rear of the herds to guard the cows' escape. Bison typically ignore wolves not displaying hunting behavior.<ref name="Wolf">{{cite journal |author=Carbyn LN |author-link=Ludwig N. Carbyn |author2=Trottier T |year=1988 |title=Descriptions of Wolf Attacks on Bison Calves in Wood Buffalo National Park |journal=Arctic |volume=41 |issue=4 |pages=297–302 |url=http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic41-4-297.pdf |doi=10.14430/arctic1736 |access-date=August 16, 2008 |archive-date=June 26, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120626174715/http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic41-4-297.pdf }}</ref> Wolf packs specializing in bison tend to have more males because their larger size than females allows them to wrestle prey to the ground more effectively.<ref>{{cite news |last=Smith|first=Doug |url=http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/bigger-is-better-if-you-re-a-hungry-wolf/image_109fa423-26ac-5ecd-a570-c9c37ae29445.html |title=Bigger is better if you're a hungry wolf |newspaper=[[Billings Gazette]] |date=March 1, 2009 |access-date=September 7, 2014}}</ref> Healthy, mature bulls in herds rarely fall prey.

[[Grizzly bear]]s are known to feed on carcass and may steal wolves' kills. Grizzlies can sometimes kill calves as well as old, injured, or sick adult bison, but direct killing of adult bison is rare even when grizzlies target lone and injured young individuals.<ref>David Maccar, 2010, [https://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/gallery/hunting/2010/11/amateur-photographer-captures-grizzly-bear-chasing-bison-down-highway/ Amateur Photographer Captures a Grizzly Bear Chasing a Bison Down a Highway in Yellowstone] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200702001207/https://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/gallery/hunting/2010/11/amateur-photographer-captures-grizzly-bear-chasing-bison-down-highway/ |date=July 2, 2020 }}</ref><ref name=BvsB>{{cite web|url=https://billingsgazette.com/outdoors/watch-now-yellowstone-grizzly-vs-bison-video-vaults-wyoming-man-to-prominence/article_db36934a-fd08-5e54-9387-e539f4e90af2.html|title=Yellowstone grizzly vs. bison video vaults Wyoming man to prominence|first=Brett|last=French|date=June 11, 2020|website=Billings Gazette}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Wyman, Travis|title=Grizzly bear predation on a bull bison in Yellowstone National Park|journal=Ursus|year=2002|pages=375–377|url=http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_13/Wyman_13.pdf|access-date=June 16, 2020|archive-date=October 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011021901/http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_13/Wyman_13.pdf}}</ref> Attacking a healthy bison is risky for a bear, who itself may be killed instead.<ref>Mary Ann Franke, 2005, ''To Save the Wild Bison: Life on the Edge in Yellowstone'', p.201, University of Oklahoma Press</ref><ref>Tom McHugh, 1979, ''The Time of the Buffalo'', p.213, University of Nebraska Press</ref>

===Dangers to humans===
Bison are among the most dangerous animals encountered by visitors to the various North American national parks and will attack humans if provoked. They appear slow because of their lethargic movements but can easily outrun humans; bison have been observed running as fast as {{convert|40|to|45|mph|km/h|abbr=on|round=5|order=flip}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/a/american-bison/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009093254/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/a/american-bison/ |archive-date=October 9, 2016 |title=American Bison|website=[[National Geographic Society]]|date=May 10, 2011}}</ref><ref name=BisonFactSheet>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalforests.org/assets/pdfs/NFF_Bison-Fact-Sheet.pdf|title=Bison Fact Sheet |website=nationalforests.org}}</ref><ref name=Gildarts>{{cite book |first1=Bert |last1=Gildart |first2=Jane |last2=Gildart |year=2021 |title=Hiking the Black Hills Country |page=5 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite tweet |author=National Bison Association |user=nationalbison |number=1366870008157069322 |title=~TEACHABLE TUESDAY~ Did you know...Bison may look big and cumbersome, but they're very agile and quick. Bison can run an impressive 30 to 45 mph and jump as high as six vertical feet}}</ref>  Bison may approach people for curiosity. Close encounters, including to touch the animals, can be dangerous, and gunshots do not startle them.<ref>Teresa Scalzo, 2016, [https://apps.carleton.edu/voice/?story_id=1450431&issue_id=1449646 Field Guide to the American Bison], The Voice, Summer 2016, Carleton College</ref>
[[File:Tourists get close to a wild herd of American Bison (Bison bison) to take a photo at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.jpg|thumb|right|Tourists approach dangerously close to a wild herd of American bison to take a photograph in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming]]
Between 1980 and 1999, more than three times as many people in Yellowstone National Park were injured by bison than by bears. During this period, bison charged and injured 79 people, with injuries ranging from goring puncture wounds and broken bones to bruises and abrasions. Bears injured 24 people during the same time. Three people died from the injuries inflicted—one person by bison in 1983, and two people by bears in 1984 and 1986.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Tom Olliff |author2=Jim Caslick |year=2003 |title=Wildlife-Human Conflicts in Yellowstone: When Animals and People Get Too Close |journal=Yellowstone Science |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=18–22 |url=http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/upload/YS11%281%29.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111226033855/http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/upload/YS11(1).pdf |archive-date=December 26, 2011 }}</ref>

==Genetics==
[[File:William T. Hornaday Extermination of the American Bison 1889 Cornell CUL PJM 1102 01.jpg|thumb|Map from 1889 by [[William Temple Hornaday]], illustrating his book, ''[[The Extermination of the American Bison]]''|left]]
A major problem that bison face today is a lack of [[genetic diversity]] due to the [[population bottleneck]] the species experienced during its near-extinction in the late 1800s. Another genetic issue is the entry of genes from [[domestic cattle]] into the bison population, through hybridization.<ref name=nwfj/>

Officially, the "American buffalo" is classified by the United States government as a type of cattle, and the government allows private herds to be managed as such. This is a reflection of the characteristics that bison share with cattle. Though the American bison is a separate species and usually regarded as being in a separate genus from [[domestic cattle]] (''Bos taurus''), they have a lot of genetic compatibility with cattle. American bison can interbreed with cattle, although only the female offspring are fertile in the first generation. These female hybrids can be bred back to either bison or domestic bulls, resulting in either 1/4 or 3/4 bison young. Female offspring from this cross are also fertile, but males are not reliably fertile unless they are either {{frac|7|8}} bison or {{frac|7|8}} domestic.<ref>{{cite book|author=Liberty Hyde Bailey|title=Cyclopedia of American Agriculture, Volume III: Animals|year=1908|publisher=The MacMillan Company|page=291}}</ref> Moreover, when they do interbreed, crossbreed animals in the first generation tend to look very much like purebred bison, so appearance is completely unreliable as a means of determining which is a purebred bison, a crossbred cow and a crossbred bison. Many ranchers have deliberately crossbred their cattle with bison, and some natural hybridization could be expected in areas where cattle and bison occur in the same range. Since cattle and bison eat similar food and tolerate similar conditions, they have often been in the same range together in the past, and opportunity for crossbreeding may sometimes have been common.

In recent decades, tests were developed to determine the source of mitochondrial DNA in cattle and bison, and most private "buffalo" herds were actually crossbred with cattle, and even most state and federal buffalo herds had some cattle DNA. With the advent of nuclear microsatellite DNA testing, the number of herds known to contain cattle genes has increased. As of 2011, though about 500,000 bison existed on private ranches and in public herds, perhaps only 15,000 to 25,000 of these bison were pure and not actually bison-cattle hybrids. DNA from domestic cattle (''Bos taurus'') has been found in almost all examined bison herds.<ref>{{cite report |url=http://snr.unl.edu/gpcesu/PDFs/WICA%20Bison.pdf |title=Remove Threats to Irreplaceable Bison Herd at Wind Cave National Park |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723115242/http://snr.unl.edu/gpcesu/PDFs/WICA%20Bison.pdf |archive-date=July 23, 2011 |publisher=FY 2006 Challenge Cost Share Program |type=Final Project Report |date=September 30, 2007 |access-date= September 16, 2011}}</ref>

Significant public bison herds that do not appear to have hybridized domestic cattle genes are the Yellowstone Park bison herd, the Henry Mountains bison herd, which was started with bison taken from Yellowstone Park, the Wind Cave bison herd, and the Wood Buffalo National Park bison herd and subsidiary herds started from it, in Canada.

A landmark study of bison genetics performed by James Derr of Texas A&M University corroborated this.<ref name="buffalofieldcampaign.org">{{cite conference|url=http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/habitat/documents2/Derr_American%20Bison%20-%20The%20Ultimate%20Genetic%20Survivor.pdf |title=American Bison: The Ultimate Genetic Survivor |last=Derr |first=James |conference=The Ecological Future of North American Bison |date=October 24, 2006 |access-date=July 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725231104/http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/habitat/documents2/Derr_American%20Bison%20-%20The%20Ultimate%20Genetic%20Survivor.pdf |archive-date=July 25, 2011 }}</ref> The Derr study was undertaken in an attempt to determine what genetic problems bison might face as they repopulate former areas, and it noted that bison seem to be adapting successfully, despite their apparent genetic bottleneck. One possible explanation for this might be the small amount of domestic cattle genes that are now in most bison populations, though this is not the only possible explanation for bison success.

[[File:Bisó de bosc.jpg|thumb|A [[wood bison]] around the [[Coal River (Canada)|Coal River]] in Canada]]
In the study, cattle genes were also found in small amounts throughout most national, state, and private herds. "The hybridization experiments conducted by some of the owners of the five foundation herds of the late 1800s, have left a legacy of a small amount of cattle genetics in many of our existing bison herds," said Derr. "All of the state owned bison herds tested (except for possibly one) contain animals with domestic cattle mtDNA."<ref name="buffalofieldcampaign.org"/>

It appears that the one state herd that had no cattle genes was the Henry Mountains bison herd; the Henry Mountain herd was started initially with transplanted animals from Yellowstone Park. However, the extension of this herd into the [[Book Cliffs]] of central Utah involved mixing the founders with additional bison from another source, so it is not known if the Book Cliffs extension of the herd is also free of cattle hybridization.

A separate study by Wilson and Strobeck, published in ''Genome'', was done to define the relationships between different herds of bison in the United States and Canada, and to determine whether the bison at Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada and the Yellowstone Park bison herd were possibly separate subspecies. The Wood Buffalo Park bison were determined to actually be crossbreeds between plains and wood bison, but their predominant genetic makeup was that of the expected "wood buffalo".<ref name="PMID10382295" /> However, the Yellowstone Park bison herd was pure plains bison, and not any of the other previously suggested subspecies. Another finding was that the bison in the [[Antelope_Island_bison_herd| Antelope Island herd]] in Utah appeared to be more distantly related to other plains bison in general than any other plains bison group that was tested, though this might be due to [[genetic drift]] caused by the small size of only 12 individuals in the founder population. A side finding of this was that the Antelope Island bison herd appears to be most closely related to the Wood Buffalo National Park bison herd, though the Antelope Island bison are actually plains bison.
<gallery caption="Range history of bison in North America" mode="packed" heights="280">
File:Bison original range map.svg|Original distribution of plains bison and wood bison in North America along the "[[great bison belt]]". [[Bison occidentalis|Holocene bison]] (''Bison occidentalis'') is an earlier species at the origin of plains bison and wood bison. {{leftlegend|#DEAA87|Holocene bison}}{{leftlegend|#C87137|Wood bison}}{{leftlegend|#784421|Plains bison}}
File:Extermination of bison to 1889.svg|Map of the extermination of the bison to 1889. This map based on [[William Temple Hornaday]]'s late-19th century research.{{leftlegend|#DEAA87|Original range}}{{leftlegend|#A05A2C|Range as of 1870}}{{leftlegend|#28170B|Range as of 1889}}
File:Bison bison 2003 map.svg|Distribution of public herds of plains bison and of free-ranging or captive breeding wood bison in North America as of 2003.{{leftlegend|#C87137|Wood bison}}{{leftlegend|#784421|Plains bison}}
</gallery>
In order to bolster the genetic diversity of the American bison, the National Park Service alongside the Department of the Interior announced the 2020 Bison Conservation Initiative on May 7, 2020. This initiative focuses on maintaining the genetic diversity of the metapopulation rather than individual herds. Small populations of bison are at considerably larger risk due to their decreased gene pool and are susceptible to catastrophic events more so than larger herds. The 2020 Bison Conservation Initiative aims to translocate up to three bison every five to ten years between the Department of the Interior's herds. Specific smaller herds will require a more intense management plan. Translocated bison will also be screened for any health defects such as infection of brucellosis bacteria as to not put the larger herd at risk.<ref>{{cite web |title=New Bison Conservation Initiative Focuses On Genetic Diversity |website= THE WILDLIFE SOCIETY |date= 2020 |url=https://wildlife.org/new-bison-conservation-initiative-focuses-on-genetic-diversity/ |access-date=July 5, 2020}}</ref>

== Population bottleneck and near extinction ==
Bison went from numbering an estimated 60 million individuals{{Efn|The 60 million estimation is based on an observation made by Colonel R.I. Dodge along the [[Arkansas River]] in Kansas in 1871.<ref name="Hedrick-2009"/>}} before the 1870s to becoming nearly extinct in the 1880s. This was due to the mass slaughtering of bison during the 1870s, which caused the plains bison population to undergo a [[population bottleneck]]. The bottleneck resulted in a founding population of around 100 individuals, split into six herds, five of which were managed by private ranchers and one managed by the New York Zoological Park (now the [[Bronx Zoo]]). Additionally, a wild herd consisting of 25 individuals in [[Yellowstone National Park]] survived the bottleneck.<ref name="Hedrick-2009">{{cite journal |last=Hedrick |first=P. W. |date=2009-07-01 |title=Conservation Genetics and North American Bison (Bison bison) |journal=Journal of Heredity |language=en |volume=100 |issue=4 |pages=411–420 |doi=10.1093/jhered/esp024 |pmid=19414501 |issn=0022-1503|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Each of the privately ranched herds had an initial [[effective population size]] (N<sub>e</sub>) of an estimated 5 to 7 individuals, for a total combined effective population size of between 30 and 50 individuals, from which all of the modern [[plains bison]] descend. While these herds have remained mostly isolated, some more than others, there has been some interbreeding between the herds over the past 150 years.<ref name="Hedrick-2009" />

The conservation efforts and copious amounts of data taken on American bison populations allow for American bison to serve as a useful study case of population bottlenecking and its effects. This is especially true of the Texas State Bison Herd, which underwent very extreme genetic bottlenecking, with a founding population of only 5 individuals.<ref name="Hedrick-2009" />

=== Texas State Bison Herd ===
The Texas State Bison Herd (TSBH), also known as the Goodnight herd, was established by [[Charles Goodnight]] in the mid-1880s with five wild-caught calves. In 1887, the herd consisted of 13 individuals; in 1910, the population consisted of 125 individuals; and in the 1920s, the population ranged from 200 to 250 individuals. In 1929, Goodnight died and the herd switched hands multiple times, leaving the population of the herd unknown from 1930 until the herd was donated to the State of Texas in 1997, with a population of 36 individuals, solely descended from the original five calves.<ref name="Hedrick-2009" /> By 2002, the population of the TSBH consisted of 40 individuals and had concerningly low birth rates and high rates of calf mortality. This led to extra attention being given to this herd by conservationists who then performed significant amounts of genetic testing.

Goodnight was an advocate for the hybridization of bison with cattle, in the hopes of creating a stronger and healthier breed. When the herd was donated to the State of Texas, genetic testing revealed that 6 out of 36 individuals still carried cattle mitochondrial DNA.<ref name="Texas" />

Researchers found that the average number of [[allele]]s per [[Locus (genetics)|locus]] and the [[Zygosity#Heterozygous|heterozygosity]] levels (a measure of [[genetic diversity]], where high heterozygosity is representative of high genetic diversity) for the TSBH were significantly lower than that of the Yellowstone National Park bison population and the [[Theodore Roosevelt National Park]] bison population.<ref name="Texas" /> Additionally, of the 54 [[Microsatellite|nuclear microsatellites]] that were examined, the TSBH had 8 monomorphic loci (i.e., each loci had only one allele), whereas in both the Yellowstone and Theodore Roosevelt herds there was only one monomorphic locus, indicating a much lower level of genetic diversity in the TSBH.<ref name="Texas" /> The Yellowstone herd had an average number of alleles per locus of 4.75, the Theodore Roosevelt National Park herd had an average of 4.15 alleles per locus, but the TSBH only had an average of 2.54 alleles per locus, statistically significantly lower than the others.<ref name="Texas" /> The heterozygosity level of the Yellowstone, Theodore Roosevelt, and TSBH populations were 0.63, 0.57, and 0.38 respectively, with the TSBH again having a statistically significantly lower value.<ref name="Texas" /> This low genetic diversity found in TSBH is likely due to the critically low starting population, several additional bottlenecks throughout the herd's history–leading to [[inbreeding depression]]–,<ref name="Texas" /> and a continuously low population allowing for [[genetic drift]] to have a large effect. Before any addition of new individuals, the rate of loss of genetic diversity was estimated to be between 30 and 40% over the proceeding 50 years.<ref name="Texas" />

The inbreeding depression resulting from the multiple extreme population bottlenecks in the TSBH led to a coefficient of inbreeding of 0.367, equal to the level of inbreeding that results from two generations of full-siblings mating.<ref name="Hedrick-2009" />

The Texas State Bison Herd is also a useful example of the deleterious effects of extreme population bottlenecking, with an average natality rate of 0.376 offspring per female and a 1st-year mortality rate of 52.6% from 1997 to 2002, compared to an average natality rate of 0.560 offspring per female and a 1st-year mortality rate of 4.2% for the other bison herds.<ref name="Texas" />

Additionally, if it were not for the intervention of conservationists, the Texas State Bison Herd would have most likely gone extinct, as the population bottleneck would have proven to be too severe. Multiple population models based on the genetics of the TSBH in the early 2000s predicted a 99% chance of extinction of the TSBH in less than 50 years, with an estimation in 2004 giving the TSBH a 99% chance of extinction in 41 years without the introduction of any outside individuals (Halbert et al. 2004). Importantly for conservation, another simulation predicted that the addition of multiple (3–9) outside male bison into the herd would increase genetic diversity enough to give the herd a 100% chance of surviving for another 100 years.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Halbert |first1=Natalie D. |last2=Grant |first2=William E. |last3=Derr |first3=James N. |date=2005-01-20 |title=Genetic and demographic consequences of importing animals into a small population: a simulation model of the Texas State Bison Herd (USA) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304380004003710 |journal=Ecological Modelling |language=en |volume=181 |issue=2 |pages=263–276 |doi=10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2004.02.022 |bibcode=2005EcMod.181..263H |issn=0304-3800|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Conservation efforts have led the current TSBH population to be at the carrying capacity of their habitat, at around 300 individuals.

=== Yellowstone National Park Bison Herd ===
[[File:Frosty bison in the road on a cold morning in Hayden Valley (53482547136).jpg|thumb|Bison in winter in [[Hayden Valley]].]]
The Yellowstone National Park Bison herd started with only 25 individuals, and there was evidence of two population bottlenecking events from 1896 to 1912, with a population ranging between 25 and 50 individuals during this time. In 1902, 18 female and 3 male bison from outside herds–the Pablo-Allard herd and Goodnight (TSBH) herds respectively–were introduced to the Yellowstone herd. After the addition of those individuals, the effective population size is estimated to have been N<sub>e</sub>=7.2 individuals. The Yellowstone herd was kept completely isolated from 1902 to around 1920, and these previously mentioned founders contributed between 60 and 70% of the genetics of the current bison population at Yellowstone.<ref name="Hedrick-2009" />

Similar to the Texas State Bison Herd, the introduction of new individuals into the population in 1902 likely was the savior of this herd, which now numbers around 5,900 individuals as of summer 2022.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Park |first1=Mailing Address: PO Box 168 Yellowstone National |last2=Us |first2=WY 82190-0168 Phone: 307-344-7381 Contact |title=Yellowstone Bison - Yellowstone National Park (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/bison.htm |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref>

=== Population recovery ===
From the late 19th century onwards, the bison population gradually rose from 325 in 1884 to 500,000 in 2017, as a result of careful preservation and a general population boom. Although they are no longer classified as endangered, there are still conservation efforts in order to prevent population crashes down the line.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |last=Heath |first=Jessica |date=2017-12-30 |title=The Bison: from 30 million to 325 (1884) to 500,000 (today) |url=https://www.flatcreekinn.com/bison-americas-mammal/ |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=Flat Creek Inn |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Hunting==
{{Main|Bison hunting}}
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-left: 10px;"
|-
! Year !! American<br />bison (est)
|-
| Pre-1800
|align="right"| 60,000,000<ref name="BSFW">{{cite journal|author=Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife|title=The American Buffalo|journal=Conservation Note|date=January 1965|volume=12}}</ref>
|-
| 1830
|align="right"| 40,000,000<ref name=BSFW />
|-
| 1840
|align="right"| 35,650,000<ref name=Roe51>{{cite book|last1=Roe|first1=Frank Gilbert|title=The North American Buffalo|date=1951|publisher=University of Toronto Press|location=Toronto Canada}}</ref>
|-
| 1870
|align="right"| 5,500,000<ref name=BSFW />
|-
| 1880
|align="right"| 395,000<ref name=Roe51 />
|-
| 1889
|align="right"| 541 (U.S.)<ref name=hornaday>{{cite book|last1=Hornaday|first1=William T.|title=The American Natural History|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924073178224|date=1904|publisher=C. Scribner's Sons|location=New York}}</ref>
|-
| 1900
|align="right"| 300 (U.S.)<ref name=BSFW />
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1944–47
|align="right"| 5,000 (U.S.)<ref name=Caha>{{cite book|last1=Cahalane|first1=Victor H.|title=Mammals of North America|url=https://archive.org/details/mammalsofnortham0000caha|url-access=registration|date=1947|publisher=The MacMillan Company|location=New York}}</ref>
|-
|align="right"| 15,000 (Canada)<ref name=Roe51 />
|-
| 1951
|align="right"| 23,340<ref>{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Henry H.|title=Complete Field Guide to American Wildlife|url=https://archive.org/details/completefieldgui0000coll|url-access=registration|date=1959|publisher=Harper & Row|location=New York}}</ref>
|-
| 2000
|align="right"| {{circa}} 30,000<ref>{{cite book| title = Exploring Life Sciences| date = 2000| volume = 6|pages = 474–475|isbn = 0-7614-7141-3|publisher = Marshall Cavendish}}</ref>
|-
|2017
|align = "right"| 500,000<ref name="auto"/>
|}

Buffalo hunting, i.e. hunting of the American bison, was an activity fundamental to the [[Plains Indians|Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains]], providing more than 150 uses for all parts of the animal, including being a major food source, hides for clothing and shelter, bones and horns as tools as well as ceremonial and adornment uses.<ref name="nps bison">{{cite web | title=Bison Bellows: A day to thank the bison (U.S. National Park Service) | website=NPS.gov Homepage (U.S. National Park Service) | date=November 6, 2017 | url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/bison-bellows-11-25-15.htm | access-date=June 16, 2023 | page=}}</ref><ref name="nps bison 2">{{cite web | title=People and Bison | website=Bison (U.S. National Park Service) | date=November 1, 2018 | url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bison/people.htm | access-date=June 16, 2023 | page=}}</ref> Bison hunting was later adopted by American professional hunters, as well as by the U.S. government, in an effort to sabotage the central resource of some [[Plains Indians|American Indian Nations]] during the [[Sioux Wars|later portions of the American Indian Wars]], leading to the near-extinction of the species around 1890.<ref name="Smits1994">{{cite journal |last=Smits |first=David |date=Autumn 1994 |title=The Frontier Army and the Destruction of the Buffalo: 1865–1883 |url=http://history.msu.edu/hst321/files/2010/07/smits-on-bison.pdf |journal=The Western Historical Quarterly |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=312–338 |jstor=971110 |access-date=March 30, 2015 |doi=10.2307/971110 |archive-date=July 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200706150320/https://history.msu.edu/hst321/files/2010/07/smits-on-bison.pdf }}</ref> For many tribes the buffalo was an integral part of life—something guaranteed to them by the Creator. In fact, for some Plains indigenous peoples, bison are known as the first people.<ref name="buffalo genocide">{{cite book|title=Colonial Genocide in Indigenous North America |last=Hubbard |first=Tasha |date=2014 |chapter=Buffalo Genocide in Nineteenth Century North America: 'Kill, Skin, Sell' |publisher=Duke University Press |page=294 |isbn=978-0-8223-5779-7 |doi=10.1215/9780822376149-014}}</ref> The concept of species [[extinction]] was foreign to many tribes.<ref>{{cite book |last=Harjo |first=Suzan |title=Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations |publisher=Smithsonian Books |page=101 |isbn=978-1-58834-478-6 |year=2014 }}</ref>

Thus, when the U.S. government began to massacre the buffalo, it was particularly harrowing to the Indigenous people. As [[Crow Nation|Crow]] chief [[Plenty Coups]] described it: "When the buffalo went away the hearts of my people fell to the ground, and they could not lift them up again. After this nothing happened. There was little singing anywhere."<ref name="Smits1994"/> Spiritual loss was rampant; bison were an integral part of traditional tribal societies, and they would frequently take part in ceremonies for each bison they killed to honor its sacrifice. In order to boost morale during this time, [[Sioux]] and other tribes took part in the [[Ghost Dance]], which consisted of hundreds of people dancing until 100 persons were lying unconscious.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/eight/gddescrp.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010622054012/http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/eight/gddescrp.htm |archive-date=June 22, 2001 |title=The Ghost Dance Among the Lakota |last1=Parker |first1=Z. A. |date=1890 |website=PBS Archives of the West |publisher=PBS |access-date=March 30, 2015}}</ref>

Many [[Bison hunting#Native American bison conservation efforts|conservation measures have been taken by Native Americans]], with the Inter Tribal Bison Council being one of the most significant. Formed in 1990, it comprises 56 tribes in 19 states.<ref name="UC Irving">{{cite web |url=http://darwin.bio.uci.edu/sustain/global/sensem/patel97.htm |title=Restoration of Bison onto the American Prairie |last1=Patel |first1=Moneil |date=June 1997 |website=UC Irving |access-date=April 7, 2015 |archive-date=April 15, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415141431/http://darwin.bio.uci.edu/sustain/global/sensem/patel97.htm }}</ref> These tribes represent a collective herd of more than 15,000 bison and focus on reestablishing herds on tribal lands in order to promote culture, revitalize spiritual solidarity, and restore the ecosystem. Some Inter Tribal Bison Council members argue that the bison's economic value is one of the main factors driving its resurgence. Bison serve as a low-cost substitute for cattle, and they can withstand the winters in the Plains region far easier than cattle.<ref name="UC Irving"/>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="150px" style="text-align:left" class="center">
File:Alfred Jacob Miller - Hunting Buffalo - Walters 371940190.jpg|Bison [[Buffalo jump|being chased off a cliff]] as painted by [[Alfred Jacob Miller]]
File:Ulm Pishkun. Buffalo jump, SW of Great Falls, Montana.jpg|Ulm Pishkun. Buffalo jump, SW of Great Falls, Montana. The [[Blackfoot Confederacy|Blackfoot]] drove bison over cliffs in the autumn to secure the winter supply. The Blackfoot used pishkuns as late as the 1850s.<ref>Ewers, John C. (1988): "The last Bison Drive of the Blackfoot Indians". Indian Life On The Upper Missouri. Norman and London, pp. 157–168</ref>
File:BuffaloHunters.jpg|Bison hunt under the wolf-skin mask, 1832–33
File:Buffalo Hunt (Sotheby's).jpg|A bison hunt depicted by [[George Catlin]]
</gallery>

==As livestock==
[[File:Buffalo+meat+cans.jpg|left|thumb|Canned bison meat for sale]]Bison are increasingly raised for [[meat]], [[Hide (skin)|hide]], [[wool]], and [[dairy]] products. The majority of American bison in the world are raised for human consumption or fur clothing. Bison meat is generally considered to taste very similar to beef, but is lower in fat and [[cholesterol]], yet higher in protein than beef,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bisoncentral.com/index.php?s=&c=67&d=99&a=1056&w=2&r=Y|title=&#124; National Bison Association|publisher=Bisoncentral.com|access-date=February 19, 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110120234037/http://bisoncentral.com/index.php?s=&c=67&d=99&a=1056&w=2&r=Y|archive-date=January 20, 2011 |url-status= live}}</ref> which has led to the development of [[beefalo]], a fertile hybrid of bison and domestic cattle.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/meat-catfish/bison-farm-table|title=Bison from Farm to Table|publisher=USDA|access-date=January 6, 2017}}</ref> In 2005, about 35,000 bison were processed for meat in the U.S., with the National Bison Association and [[United States Department of Agriculture|USDA]] providing a "Certified American Buffalo" program with birth-to-consumer tracking of bison via [[Radio-frequency identification|RFID]] ear tags. There is [[kashrut|kosher]] bison meat; these bison are slaughtered at one of the few kosher mammal slaughterhouses in the U.S., and the meat is then distributed nationwide.

Bison are found in publicly and privately held herds. [[Custer State Park]] in [[South Dakota]] is home to 1,500 bison, one of the largest publicly held herds in the world, but some question the genetic purity of the animals. Wildlife officials believe that free roaming herds with minimal [[Introgression|cattle introgression]] on public lands in North America can be found only in: the [[Yellowstone Park bison herd]];<ref name=nwfj>{{cite journal|author=Staff|title=Restoring a Prairie Icon|journal=National Wildlife|volume=50|issue=1|pages=20–25|date=November 15, 2011|url=http://www.nwf.org/news-and-magazines/national-wildlife/animals/archives/2012/restoring-bison.aspx}}</ref> the [[Henry Mountains bison herd]] at the [[Book Cliffs]] and Henry Mountains in Utah; at [[Wind Cave National Park]] in South Dakota; [[Fort Peck Indian Reservation]] in Montana; Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary in the [[Northwest Territories]]; [[Elk Island National Park]] and [[Wood Buffalo National Park]] in Alberta; [[Grasslands National Park]] and [[Prince Albert National Park]] in Saskatchewan. 

Another population, the [[Antelope Island bison herd]] on [[Antelope Island]] in Utah, consisting of 550 to 700 bison, is also one of the largest and oldest public herds in the United States, but the bison in that herd are considered to be only semifree roaming, since they are confined to the Antelope Island. In addition, recent genetic studies indicate that, like most bison herds, the Antelope Island bison herd has a small number of genes from domestic cattle. In 2002, the United States government donated some bison calves from South Dakota and Colorado to the Mexican government. Their descendants live in the Mexican nature reserves El Uno Ranch at Janos and Santa Elena Canyon, [[Chihuahua (state)|Chihuahua]], and Boquillas del Carmen, [[Coahuila]], located near the southern banks of the [[Rio Grande]], and around the grassland state line with [[Texas]] and [[New Mexico]].

Recent genetic studies of privately owned herds of bison show that many of them include animals with genes from domestic cattle.<ref name=nwfj/> For example, the [[Catalina Island bison herd|herd on Santa Catalina Island, California]], isolated since 1924 after being brought there for a movie shoot, were found to have cattle introgression.<ref>{{cite news|last=Chang|first=Alicia|title =Study: Catalina bison aren't purebred|work=USA Today| agency =Associated Press|date=September 21, 2007| url =https://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2007-09-21-3401087937_x.htm|access-date =March 14, 2008 }}</ref> As few as 12,000 to 15,000 pure bison are estimated to remain in the world. The numbers are uncertain because the tests used to date—[[mitochondrial DNA]] analysis—indicate only if the maternal line (back from mother to mother) ever included domesticated bovines, thus say nothing about possible male input in the process. Most hybrids were found to look exactly like purebred bison; therefore, appearance is not a good indicator of genetics.

The size of the Canadian domesticated herd (genetic questions aside) grew dramatically through the 1990s and 2000s. The 2006 Census of Agriculture reported the Canadian herd at 195,728 head, a 34.9% increase since 2001.<ref name="statcan.gc.ca">{{cite web|url=http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/96-325-x/2007000/article/10504-eng.htm |title=Canadian Agriculture at a Glance: Bison on the comeback trail |publisher=Statcan.gc.ca |date=April 9, 2009 |access-date=May 29, 2013}}</ref> Of this total, over 95% were located in [[Western Canada]], and less than 5% in [[Eastern Canada]]. [[Alberta]] was the province with the largest herd, accounting for 49.7% of the herd and 45.8% of the farms. The next-largest herds were in [[Saskatchewan]] (23.9%), [[Manitoba]] (10%), and [[British Columbia]] (6%). The main producing regions were in the northern parts of the [[Canadian prairies]], specifically in the [[parkland belt]], with the [[Peace River region]] (shared between Alberta and British Columbia) being the most important cluster, accounting for 14.4% of the national herd.<ref name="statcan.gc.ca"/> Canada also exports bison meat, totaling {{Convert|2075253|kg}} in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/96-325-x/2007000/t/6000058-eng.htm|title=Table 1 Bison meat exports continue to climb, 2001 to 2006|publisher=Statcan.gc.ca|date=April 3, 2009|access-date=May 29, 2013}}</ref>

A proposal known as [[Buffalo Commons]] has been suggested by a handful of academics and policymakers to restore large parts of the drier portion of the [[Great Plains]] to native [[prairie]] grazed by bison. Proponents argue that current agricultural use of the [[shortgrass prairie]] is not [[sustainable]], pointing to periodic disasters, including the [[Dust Bowl]], and continuing significant human population loss over the last 60 years. However, this plan is opposed by some who live in the areas in question.<ref name=nwfj/>

=== Domestication ===
Despite being the closest relatives of domestic cattle native to North America, bison were never domesticated by Native Americans. Later attempts of domestication by Europeans prior to the 20th century met with limited success. Bison were described as having a "wild and ungovernable temper";<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-10-21 |title=Bison Domestication |url=https://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/midewin/bisondomest.html |website=Illinois State Museum}}</ref> they can jump close to {{convert|6|ft|abbr=on|order=flip}} vertically,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/species-spotlight-american-bison|title=Species Spotlight: American Bison &#124; Pages &#124; WWF|website=World Wildlife Fund}}</ref> and run {{convert|35|-|45|mph|km/h|order=flip|round=5|abbr=on}}<ref name="Gildarts" /><ref name="BisonFactSheet" /> when agitated. This agility and speed, combined with their great size and weight, makes bison herds difficult to confine, as they can easily escape or destroy most fencing systems, including most [[razor wire]]. The most successful systems involve large, {{convert|20|ft|m|order=flip|adj=on|0}} fences made from welded steel I beams sunk at least {{convert|6|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}} into concrete.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}} These fencing systems, while expensive, require very little maintenance. Furthermore, making the fence sections overlap so the grassy areas beyond are not visible prevents the bison from trying to get to new range.

It has been alleged that the Aztec emperor [[Moctezuma II]] kept a bison at his private zoo (''[[Totocalli]]'') in [[Tenochtitlan]], observed by the first Spanish conquistadors in the region; this would provide proof of Native Americans keeping bison in captivity, serve as an extremely far range extension south, and be the very first observation of bison by European colonists. These claims originate from [[Juan Díaz de Solís]]'s interpretation of [[Bernal Díaz del Castillo|Bernal Diaz del Castillo]]'s accounts of the ''totocalli'', in which de Solís claims the conquistadors observed "''the Mexican Bull; a wonderful composition of divers Animals''." However, further analysis of del Castillo's account shows no such mention of such an animal, and the mention of this "Mexican Bull" was likely an embellishment by de Solís.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Haines |first=Francis D. |date=1940 |title=The Western Limits of the Buffalo Range |journal=The Pacific Northwest Quarterly |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=389–398 |jstor=40486414 |issn=0030-8803}}</ref>

==As a symbol==

===Native Americans===
[[File:Big-Medicine.jpg|thumb|right|Big Medicine (1933–1959) was a sacred white buffalo that lived on the [[CSKT Bison Range]] (display at the Montana Historical Society)]]
Among many Native American tribes, especially the [[Plains Indians]], the bison is considered a sacred animal and religious symbol. According to University of Montana anthropology and Native American studies professor S. Neyooxet Greymorning, "The creation stories of where buffalo came from put them in a very spiritual place among many tribes. The buffalo crossed many different areas and functions, and it was utilized in many ways. It was used in ceremonies, as well as to make tipi covers that provided homes for people, utensils, shields, weapons and parts were used for sewing with the sinew."<ref name="NA bison">{{cite news | last=Jawort | first=Adrian | url=http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/05/09/genocide-other-means-us-army-slaughtered-buffalo-plains-indian-wars-30798 | title=Genocide by Other Means: U.S. Army Slaughtered Buffalo in Plains Indian Wars | newspaper=Indian Country Today | date=May 9, 2011 | access-date=April 3, 2014 | archive-date=July 2, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160702224953/http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/05/09/genocide-other-means-us-army-slaughtered-buffalo-plains-indian-wars-30798 }}</ref> The [[Sioux]] consider the birth of a [[white buffalo]] to be the return of [[White Buffalo Calf Woman]], their primary cultural prophet and the bringer of their "Seven Sacred Rites". Among the [[Mandan]] and [[Hidatsa]], the [[White Buffalo Cow Society]] was the most sacred of societies for women.

===North America===
The American bison is often used in North America in official seals, flags, and logos. In 2016, the American bison became the [[National symbols of the United States|national mammal of the United States]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2016/04/27/how-the-bison-once-nearing-extinction-lived-to-become-americas-national-mammal/|newspaper=Washington Post|author=Elahe Izadi|title=It's official: America's first national mammal is the bison|date=May 9, 2016}}</ref> The bison is a popular symbol in the Great Plains states: Kansas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming have adopted the animal as their official [[List of U.S. state mammals|state mammal]], and many sports teams have chosen the bison as their mascot. In Canada, the bison is the official animal of the province of [[Manitoba]] and appears on the Manitoba flag. It is also used in the official coat of arms of the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]].

Several American coins feature the bison, most famously on the reverse side of the "[[Indian Head nickel|buffalo nickel]]" from 1913 to 1938. In 2005, the [[United States Mint]] coined a nickel with a new depiction of the bison as part of its [[Westward Journey Nickel Series|"Westward Journey"]] series. The Kansas and North Dakota state quarters, part of the "[[50 State Quarters|50 State Quarter]]" series, each feature bison. The Kansas state quarter has only the bison and does not feature any writing, while the North Dakota state quarter has two bison. The Montana state quarter prominently features a bison skull over a landscape. The Yellowstone National Park quarter also features a bison standing next to a geyser.

Other institutions which have adopted the bison as a symbol or mascot include:<!-- Hundreds if not thousands of institutions use the bison as a symbol. Please help keep this list manageable by limiting it to institutions of international, national, or regional significance. Locally significant institutions, such as secondary schools, are probably best not included here. -->
{{Columns-list|
* [[U.S. Department of the Interior]]
* [[Bethany College (West Virginia)]]
* [[Bucknell University]] and its athletic program, the [[Bucknell Bison]]
* [[Buffalo, New York]]
* [[Buffalo Bills]]
* [[Buffalo Bisons]]
* [[Buffalo Gap High School]]
* [[Buffalo Grove High School]]
* [[Buffalo Sabres]]
* [[University of Colorado Boulder|University of Colorado]] and its athletic program, the [[Colorado Buffaloes]]
* [[Gallaudet University]]
* [[Harding University]] and its athletic program, the [[Harding Bisons]]
* [[Howard University]] and its athletic program, the [[Howard Bison and Lady Bison|Howard Bison]]
* [[Seal of the State of Indiana]]
* [[Lipscomb University]] and its athletic program, the [[Lipscomb Bisons]]
* [[Coat of arms of Manitoba]]
* [[Flag of Manitoba]]
* [[University of Manitoba]] and its athletic program, the [[Manitoba Bisons]]
* [[Marshall University]] and its athletic program, the [[Marshall Thundering Herd]]
* [[Milligan University]]
* [[Independence Party of Minnesota]]
* [[Ralph Nader]] (mascot for his 2008 campaign for president)<ref>{{cite web |last=Nader |first=The |url=http://www.votenader.org/blog/2008/10/18/buffalo-t-shirt-sale/ |title=Buffalo T-Shirt Sale – Ralph Nader for President in 2008 |publisher=Votenader.org |date=October 18, 2008 |access-date=February 19, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101021052911/http://www.votenader.org/blog/2008/10/18/buffalo-t-shirt-sale/ |archive-date=October 21, 2010 }}</ref>
* [[Nichols College]]
* [[North Dakota State University]] and its athletic program, the [[North Dakota State Bison]]
* [[Oklahoma Baptist University]] and its athletic program, the [[Oklahoma Baptist Bison]]
* [[Point Park University]]
* [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]]
* [[Rumble the Bison]] (the official mascot of the [[Oklahoma City Thunder]])
* [[Smoky Hill High School]]
* [[Southwestern Law School]]
* [[Tooele High School]] (Utah)
* [[Utah Tech University]] and its athletic program, the [[Utah Tech Trailblazers]]
* [[CFB Wainwright]]
* [[West Texas A&M University]] and its athletic program, the [[West Texas A&M Buffaloes]]
* [[Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo]]
* [[Bloomington Bison]]
}}
<br />
<gallery mode="packed" widths="120px" heights="80px" style="text-align:left" class="center">
Image:Flag of Wyoming.svg|[[Wyoming]] uses a bison in [[flag of Wyoming|its state flag]]
Image:Bison effigy.jpg|Skin effigy of a Buffalo used in the [[Lakota people|Lakota]] [[Sun Dance]]
Image:Flag of Manitoba.svg|[[Manitoba]] uses a bison in [[flag of Manitoba|its provincial flag]], as seen inside the [[Coat of arms of Manitoba|Manitoban coat of arms]]
Image:1935 Indian Head Buffalo Nickel.jpg|The 1935 [[Buffalo nickel]]—this style of coin featuring an American bison was produced from 1913 to 1938
Image:US-$10-LT-1901-Fr.114.jpg|Series 1901 $10 legal tender depicting an American bison
Image:US stamp 1898 4c Indian Hunting Buffalo.jpg|First postage stamp with image of bison was issued US in 1898—4¢ "Indian Hunting Buffalo"
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Columns-list|
* [[American Bison Society]]
* [[Buffalo Commons]] — proposed multistate nature preserve of Great Plains habitat for American bison
* [[Buffalo Hunters' War]]
* [[Conservation of American bison]]
* [[The Great Plains Ecoregion|Great Plains Ecoregion]]
* [[List of animals with humps]]
* [[Plains hide painting]]
}}

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |last=Branch |first=E. Douglas. |year=1997 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3zE0lxKhxs0C&dq=The%20Hunting%20of%20the%20Buffalo&pg=PP1 |title=The Hunting of the Buffalo |orig-date=1929 |edition=new |publisher=University of Nebraska Press|isbn=0-8032-6137-3 }}
* {{cite book |last=Dary |first=David A. |title=The Buffalo Book |location=Chicago |publisher=Swallow Press |year=1974}}
* {{cite journal | year = 1991 | title = Bison Ecology and Bison Diplomacy: The Southern Plains from 1800 to 1850 | journal = Journal of American History | volume = 78 | issue = 2| pages = 465–85 | doi = 10.2307/2079530 | jstor = 2079530 | author = Flores Dan Louie }}
* {{cite book |last=Gard |first=Wayne |title=The Great Buffalo Hunt |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |year=1954}}
* {{cite book |last=Isenberg |first=Andrew C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s_lyumM8d84C&pg=PA5 |title=The Destruction of the Bison: An Environmental History, 1750–1920 |publisher=Cambridge University press |year=2000|isbn=978-0-521-00348-3 }}
* {{cite book |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=irVb_xAtWIwC&pg=PP1 |title =American Bison: A Natural History |last =Lott |first =Dale F |publisher =University of California Press |year =2002 |isbn =978-0-520-24062-9 }}
* {{cite book |last=McHugh |first=Tom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xSbrXXh0lWMC&pg=PP1 |title=The Time of the Buffalo |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |year=1972|isbn=0-8032-8105-6 }}
* {{cite book |last=Meagher |first=Margaret Mary |url=http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/bison1973.htm |title=The Bison of Yellowstone National Park |location=Washington DC | publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1973 |series=National Park Service Scientific Monograph Series |volume=1 |lccn=73-600221|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629031320/http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/bison1973.htm |archive-date=29 June 2011 }}
* {{cite journal | year = 1929 | title = The Significance of the Destruction of the Buffalo in the Southwest| journal = Southwestern Historical Quarterly | volume = 33 | pages = 34–49 | author = Rister Carl Coke }}
* {{cite book | last=Roe | first=Frank Gilbert | title=The North American Buffalo: A Critical Study of the Species in its Wild State |edition=2nd  | publisher=University of Toronto Press | date=1951-12-31 | isbn=978-1-4875-7576-2 | doi=10.3138/9781487575762 }}
* {{cite journal | last=Shaw | first=James H. | title=How Many Bison Originally Populated Western Rangelands? | journal=Rangelands | publisher=[Allen Press, Society for Range Management] | volume=17 | issue=5 | year=1995 | issn=0190-0528 | jstor=4001099 | pages=148–150 | url=https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/rangelands/article/viewFile/11258/10531 |format=PDF}}
* {{cite journal | last=Smits | first=David D. | title=The Frontier Army and the Destruction of the Buffalo: 1865-1883 | journal=The Western Historical Quarterly | volume=25 | issue=3 | date=1994 | pages=313–338 | doi=10.2307/971110 | url=https://www.abletolead.ca/sites/default/files/data/secondary/journal%20articles/Smits%20-%20Frontier%20Army%20and%20Destruction%20of%20Buffalo%20-%201994.pdf |jstor=971110}}
* {{cite journal | year = 1995 | title = Hunt, Capture, Raise, Increase: The People Who Saved the Bison | url = http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/1009/ | journal = Great Plains Quarterly | volume = 15 | pages = 133–49 | author = Zontek Ken }}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons and category|Bison bison|Bison bison}}
{{cookbook|Bison}}
* [http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/ Buffalo Field Campaign]
* Documentary [https://www.nfb.ca/film/great_buffalo_saga/ ''The Great Buffalo Saga'']，National Film Board of Canada
* [https://tpt.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/fb367bea-1404-48a6-b342-9b6d11294543/traditional-use-of-tatanka-buffalo/ Traditional use of Tatanka (buffalo)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101022050458/http://www.arrowheads1.com/artifactinfo/bisonskel.htm Bison skeletal structure and bones]

{{Artiodactyla|R.4}}
{{List of official United States national symbols}}
{{North American Game}}
{{Meat}}
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{{Authority control}}

[[Category:American bison| ]]
[[Category:Conservation-reliant species]]
[[Category:Endemic fauna of North America]]
[[Category:Fauna of the Great Plains|American Bison]]
[[Category:Mammals of Canada]]
[[Category:Mammals of the United States]]
[[Category:Fauna of the Plains-Midwest (United States)]]
[[Category:Fauna of the Rocky Mountains]]
[[Category:Fauna of the Western United States]]
[[Category:Cuisine of the Western United States]]
[[Category:Native American cuisine]]
[[Category:Pre-Columbian Great Plains cuisine]]
[[Category:Livestock]]
[[Category:American frontier]]
[[Category:National symbols of the United States]]
[[Category:Symbols of Wyoming]]
[[Category:Provincial symbols of Manitoba]]
[[Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus|American Bison]]
[[Category:Mammals described in 1758|American Bison]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]