Plains Bison - Near-extinction and Reintroduction of Herds

Near-extinction and Reintroduction of Herds

At one time, there were at least 25 million American bison spread across the United States and Canada. However, by the late 1880s the total number of Bison in the United States had been reduced to less than 600 individuals. Most of these were collected onto various private ranches, and the last known free roaming population of bison consisted of less than 30 bison in the area which later became Yellowstone National Park. Though it was the official policy of the United States government to minimize or eliminate the bison, and most farmers and ranchers considered bison to be a pest or nuisance, some people were concerned about the demise of this North American icon so individual landowners took steps to protect a few bison. Some people saved bison with the express purpose of ranching or hunting them (see Antelope Island Bison Herd) but some groups such as the American Bison Society were also formed with the idea of saving the species and re-introducing bison to at least part of their previous natural range. Plains bison have since been re-introduced into a number of locations around North America. Five main foundation herds of American bison supplied animals intended to save the American bison from extinction. The farthest north introduction occurred in 1928 when the Alaska Game Commission brought bison to the area of present day Delta Junction. Bison taken from this transplant were also introduced to other Alaska locations, including Farewell and Chitina. The Delta Junction herd prospered the most, with a population of multiple hundreds throughout the late 20th century. This herd is popular with hunters interested in hundreds of pounds of high quality meat, but has been a problem for farming operations in the area. Though American bison generally prefer grasslands and plains habitat, they are quite adaptable and live in conditions ranging from desert, in the Henry Mountains Bison Herd to forested areas such as the Yellowstone Park Bison Herd, yet they are all of the same Plains Bison subspecies Bison bison bison. Currently, there are over 500,000 bison spread over the United States and Canada. However, most of these are on private ranches, and some of them have small amounts of hybridized cattle genes. 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 descended from it in Canada.

In 2006, Plains bison from Elk Island National Park in Alberta were released into Grasslands National Park in Saskatchewan. This marks the first time Plains bison have wandered the shortgrass prairies of Canada since their near-extinction at the turn of the 20th century. According to the National Agency Parks Canada, the entire breeding population of these wild and "semi-wild" bison are the descendents of just eight individuals that survived the period of near-extinction, due to over-hunting and tuberculosis infecting the herd that the government belatedly attempted to conserve.

A herd of approximately 650 of these animals lives in, and can be seen at, the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge near Lawton, Oklahoma. The herd was started in 1907 with stock from the New York Zoological Park, now known as the Bronx Zoo and located in the Bronx Park. Fifteen animals were shipped to Oklahoma, where bison had already become extinct due to excessive hunting and over harvesting by non-Native commercial buffalo hunters from 1874 to 1878. Some of these specimens have been released in other areas of the United States, such as Paynes Prairie in Florida.

Only one Southern plains bison herd was established in Texas. A remnant of the last of this relict herd had been saved in 1876. "Molly" Goodnight had encouraged her rancher husband, Charles Goodnight, to save some of the last bison which were taking refuge in the Texas Panhandle. By saving these few plains bison, she was able to establish a buffalo herd near the Palo Duro Canyon. This herd peaked at 250 in 1933. Bison of this herd were introduced into the Yellowstone National Park in 1902 and into the larger zoos and ranches throughout the nation. A herd of approximately 80 of these animals live in the Caprock Canyons State Park near Quitaque, Texas, located about 50 miles northeast of Plainview, Texas.