What Brought Bison Back from the Brink of Extinction?
Before the European settlers in America pushed westward, tens of millions of bison roamed the American landscape. Their range spanned almost the entire United States, with the heaviest concentration in the Great Plains. Bison congregated in massive herds. Native Americans hunted the bison on a limited scale for food, clothing and materials.
But in the 1700s, the arrival of white men with .50-caliber rifles and riding on horses started the bison’s demise in North America. The combination of efficient hunting methods and a growing demand for buffalo hides resulted in the “Great Slaughter” from 1820 to 1880. The bison population dropped from 30 million to just over a thousand by 1890.
With bison extinction imminent, Theodore Roosevelt and William Hornaday formed the American Bison Society in 1905 to ensure the species’ survival. The Bronx Zoo and Yellowstone National Park established bison preserves, and the federal government created the National Bison Range in Montana.
Ironically, commercial breeding had a greater impact boosting bison numbers than conservation, and today more than 95 percent of bison are privately owned. In the 1970s, ranchers started breeding bison for the niche meat market. Thanks to growing demand, there are around 400,000 commercial bison living in the United States.
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