The bald eagle has been the symbol of the United States for 234 years. But in May, President Obama signed a bill designating the bison as the country’s official mammal. Since then, the eagle has symbolically shared the spotlight.
The condition “buffalo” is another name for the North American bison. It has stood for the West for a very long time. Countless millions of bison once lived in North America.
The animals played an essential role in the ecosystem of the grasslands where they grazed. And for Native American communities, bison were a source of food, clothing, and shelter. Germaine White told TFK:
“Bison were at the heart of our traditional way of life,”
She is an education specialist for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of Montana. Countless millions of bison once lived in North America. The environment of the grasslands where the animals grazed benefited greatly from their presence. They affected the animals and vegetation.
Check out our coverage of some of the high-profile lawsuits that made the news in the recent past:
Back from the edge
In the middle of the 19th century, that way of life changed. Settlers moved west. They went bison hunting. Some people hunted for the same reasons as the Indians. However, some people killed bison for fun.
The killing of bison was banned in 1894. However, it was almost too late. By the early 1900s, fewer than 1,000 wild bison survived on the plains. Conservationists recognized the need to conserve the creatures.
The American Bison Society was founded by President Theodore Roosevelt, William Hornaday, the first director of the Bronx Zoo in New York City, and others. The team wanted to bring back the bison.
Private individuals and Native American groups joined the conflict. By the mid-1930s, bison were no longer in danger of extinction. Pat Thomas.
“The bison is America’s first true conservation success story,”
He is vice president of the Wildlife Conservation Society and deputy director of the Bronx Zoo. There are currently approx 500,000 bison in North America.
They are a rural population. However, the majority of them do not live in the same kind of feral herds that once roamed the land.
See tweet below:
Do you know where the buffalo roam? pic.twitter.com/SZSiFABd2y
— Oroborum (@Oroborum) June 17, 2020
Instead, they live on farms or pastures that are protected. Zoos are home to some of them. Through continued efforts, more bison are being released into the wild.
Thomas says designating the bison as a national mammal was essential to ensuring the animal is protected for future generations. White agrees.
“This recognition is starting to come full circle,” she says, “from when there were millions of wild bison, to when bison were hunted to extinction, to the beginning of the recovery.”
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