by Pam North

The buffalo - no other animal is so engrained symbolically with the West than this huge, shaggy beast.  Populating the plains in herds once numbering between an estimated 30 to 70 million, the buffalo seemed like an inexaustible resource, like the beaver, whose countless numbers also were nearly decimated by the whim of society - demand for fashionable men's hats made of the durable, rich fur.  Man has consistently proved  that his greed and irresponsibility, over an amazingly short period of time, can bring an entire species to the brink of extinction.

Two hundred years ago, the bison ran free on the North American plains.  To the Native Americans of the  region, the buffalo  was a revered animal central to their  culture.  They relied on it for food, shelter, blankets and clothing.  The Indians found a use for every part of the buffalo.  The brains were used to tan hides, the dung was fuel, and the tail was a brush.  From the buffalo came sinew for their bows, hides for their tepees, glue, thread, cordage, trail ropes for their horses, saddles, vessels to hold water, boats to cross streams, and a means of purchasing other desirable items from traders.  It was the destruction of the vast free-ranging herds on the prairies, along with the collapse of the civilization of the Plains Indians, that cleared the way for prairie agriculture, a high price to have been paid.

Bison are strictly vegetarian, grazing on grasses and sedges in meadows, foothills, and even higher-elevation forested plateaus.
Males (bulls) stand as high as six feet at the shoulder, and weigh between 1800 to 2000 pounds, and females (cows) weigh around 1000 to 1200 pounds.  Both sexes have short, dark, upward and forward curving, permanent horns.  Their huge, bearded heads and front quarters have dense, long, black or brown, shaggy hair in contrast to the shorter and lighter-colored coat of their smaller hindquarters.  Their shoulders rise into a high hump, and their tails are short with a tufted tip.  Their slow gait is deceptive, as they can move with surprising speed and agility to defend their young or to escape when approached too closely.  Most bison live in mixed herds of cows, calves, yearlings and sub-adults, and a few bulls.  Other bulls form groups of their own.  Mating season is
July to mid-September, and calves are born the following May and June, one to each adult female every one to two years, and both parents care for their calf to a certain degree; in the event of danger calves are sometimes abandoned.  Newborns are a tawny color, with only a hint of a hump, and they grow rapidly enough to be able to keep up with the herd in autumn.   Life expectancy for buffalo is about 20 years in the wild;  in captivity 30 to even 40 years is normal.  Wolf and man have been their main predators,
with diease and intestinal parasites taking a toll.

Herds are alert to any changes in their environment, and have keen senses of hearing and smell.  They are nomadic grazers, traveling in large herds in their search for grass and water, and are good swimmers.  In the summer, to escape pesky insects, they roll in the dirt or sand, creating wallows.  The wallows have a beneficial effect on the environment, producing small favorable habitats for prairie dogs, burrowing owls, ducklings, frogs, ferrets, snakes and other creatures, and helping to spread the seeds of grasses and other plants.  The deep hoofprints of the buffalo also capture seeds and water for growth, and bison waste provides fertilizer and additional moisture to aid plants.

Winter poses few problems for buffalo, as their heavy coats and mane protect them from the cold, and they swing their huge heads back and forth to push away snow from the dried grasses beneath.  Bison survive winter better than cattle.  Instinctively they head into the wind in blizzards, unlike cattle, which let the wind drive them into fences and natural barriers where they are crushed or suffocate under snowdrifts.   Buffalo do their own calving, and they don't overgaze the land or befoul waterholes as domestic cattle do.  Bison are far more compatible with the western land than the cattle that ranchers have been so determined to raise.

During the late 1880s, settlers, commercial hide hunters and thrill-seekers shot millions of buffalo, nearly causing the total demise of the species.  Since the early 1900s, the population numbers of bison have increased, although nowhere near to their original numbers.  The 20th century's return of the buffalo now manifests itself in protected herds in Colorado, such as those at Genesee Mountain Park on I-70, Daniels Park in Douglas County,  Colorado National Monument, and Zapata Ranch near Great Sand Dunes National Park.  A very limited amount of hunting is sanctioned by the Colorado Department of Wildlife, as it classifies buffalo as a big game animal.  Buffalo are also bred for human consumption, as the meat is lower in calories, cholesterol and fat than beef, pork or chicken.

The total decimation of the buffalo would have been a great loss.  It is tragic that man continues to destroy countless species of animals without regard to their importance. With the buffalo we were lucky; they weren't wiped off the face of the earth forever.
Other species have not been so fortunate.
 
 
 
 

Photos for article at:

http://www.montana.edu/~wwwcbs/pictures.html