NaturalVisions Blog

Bison, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota (click image to view larger)

American Bison (Bison bison), as we all know, used to roam western North America in vast herds, with total numbers in the tens of millions, but were nearly driven to extinction. Estimates are that there are roughly 500,000 remaining, of which some 35,000 are considered “wild,” and with that, even the “wild” herds are managed to control populations. There are two subspecies of American Bison, the Wood Bison (B. bison athabascae), found in parts of the boreal forests of western Canada, and Plains Bison (B. bison bison), of the American Plains. Wood Bison are slightly larger than their cousins to the south and their humps are located farther forward.

This nursing calf and its mother are Plains Bison photographed at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota where a herd of between 200 and 400 of these animals is maintained in the park’s South Unit. In addition to bison, the park is also home to elk, deer, prairie dogs, and some wild horses.