American Bison

This magnificent creature is more of a symbol of old America as only around 500,000 bisons live across North America today, where as before the European colonization of the continent, there was an estimated 60 million bison roaming the river valleys, prairies and plains.

In 2016, the American bison became the national mammal of the United States but it had long been revered for many centuries by the Native American tribes, especially the Plains Indians, who considered a sacred animal and religious symbol.

Due to a combination of over hunting, slaughter and bovine diseases contracted from domestic cattle, by 1884 it was believed that their numbers had shrank to a minuscule 325, including 24 in Yellowstone. Due to conservation efforts, by 1910 the bison population had increase to 1,000 and with the continuation of those efforts, they are now half a million strong with 5,000 of them roaming Yellowstone Park.