History of the Great American Buffalo (BISON)

The American Buffalo is not a true buffalo. Bison is the scientific name for American Buffalo and it belongs to the Bovine family of mammals, as do domestic cattle.

American Buffalo  were  the  center of life of the Plains Indians, providing them with food, clothes, shelter and much of their culture. American Buffalo roamed the plains in numbers so great the early European explorers could not count them, describing  them as, “Numbers-numberless”, and “the plains were black and appeared as if in motion”.

Estimates  put  the  number  of  American Buffalo  at  40  million  prior to their rapid decline in the middle to late 1800’s. The estimated number of American Buffalo alive at  the  turn  of  the  century  was  less than 1000 animals in the US and Canada. There are now an estimated 300,000 American Buffalo in public and private herds  in  the  US and Canada. Raising American Buffalo is more than a hobby or a passing  fad,  it  is  a viable industry. There is a strong demand for American Buffalo meat and by-products with prices that are consistently higher than cattle.

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