The American Bison

BUFFALO is the common name of several kinds of large wild oxen. American Buffalo, or Bison. Most Americans know this large wild animal simply as "buffalo." But zoologists do not consider it a true buffalo. They call it a bison. The bison has a large head and neck and humped shoulders. It also has 14 pair of ribs, instead of the 13 pair found in true buffaloes.

The American bison, or "buffalo," is brownish-black, except on the hind part of the body, which is brown. Long, coarse hair covers the head, neck, and hump. The hair forms a beard on the throat and chin. The head has a pair of horns like those of domestic cattle. Some pairs of horns spread 35 inches (89 centimeters) at their widest point. A full-grown bull (male) measures from 10 to 12 1/2 feet (3 to 3.8 meters) long, from the tip of its nose to the end of its short, tufted tail. Its height at the shoulders measures from 5 1/2 to 6 feet (1.7 to 1.8 meters). Bulls usually weigh between 1,600 and 2,000 pounds (726 to 910 kilograms). Extremely large ones may weigh as much as 3,000 pounds (1,400 kilograms). Cows (females) are much smaller than bulls and rarely weigh more than 900 pounds (410 kilograms).

Great herds of bison once roamed over North America between the Appalachian Mountains on the east and the Rockies on the west. Indians depended upon bison flesh for food and bison hides for clothing. In 1850, about 20 million bison still thundered over the western plains. Huge herds often forced railroad trains to stop while the animals crossed the tracks. In the late 1800's, white American hunters slaughtered millions of bison. This killing deprived the Indians of their main source of food and almost wiped out the bison.

HOMEPAGE * SYMBOLS * BUFFALO