American Bison

Bison bison

The American bison (Bison bison), often called buffalo in North America, is the continent's heavyweight native bovine. It has a massive head, high shoulder hump, short horns, and a shaggy forequarter that contrasts with the leaner hind end. Plains bison and wood bison represent the main living forms, though many public herds and ranch herds are managed at the species or population level. Once numbering in the tens of millions, bison were reduced to a small fraction of that number before recovery through private, tribal, and public stewardship.

Bison are kept on ranches for meat, in conservation herds, and in tribal and public landscapes where grazing can shape grassland plant communities. They are not handled like domestic cattle: fencing, gates, alleys, and chutes must account for speed, jumping ability, and herd pressure. Managers watch nutrition, winter forage, mineral access, calving, parasites, and diseases such as brucellosis in affected regions. Conservation breeding also considers genetic diversity and, in some herds, the history of cattle introgression.