“What is the difference between a bison and a buffalo?” is a question I frequently hear during park hikes. Whenever I am asked this question, I typically respond with a one-word answer – geography. However, many things differentiate bison from buffalo. There remain two “old-world” buffalo species, the Cape Buffalo, which lives in sub-Saharan Africa, and the Water Buffalo, which lives in SE Asia. However, there are two bison species. One that lives in Europe, the European Bison or Wisent (Bison bonasus), and one in North America called the American Bison (Bison bison), and colloquially both are referred to as the European/American Buffalo, which is likely where any confusion stems.

A second question I often hear is, “have they always been here?” Bison, specifically Bison priscus, arrived in North America 200,000 years ago by crossing “Beringia,” the land bridge connecting Asia and North America. Since then, several other bison species have roamed North America. For example, B. latifrons, which went extinct ~20,000 YBP and is the largest bovine to roam North America. B. antiquus, and B. occidentalis, both of whom went extinct ~10,000 YBP. All existed prior to today’s modern bison.

Historically the home range of the North American bison extended from central Alaska south to the deserts of northern Mexico and the east coast west to the Great Basin. Only the northeastern states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut did not have a historical bison presence. There are currently two bison species in North America, the Wood Bison (B. athabascae) and the Plains Bison (B. bison). The Wood Bison was found in the northern reaches of Alaska down into the northern Canadian Rockies, where its range stopped. From there, southward, which included almost all of the “lower 48,” was the home range of the Plains Bison. At least one species of bison has existed in North America for the better part of a quarter million years. However, all of that changes by the time we get to 1830, which is considered the start of the great “mass destruction” of the bison by Europeans in North America. Bison were slaughtered for several reasons, their hides for clothing, their bones for fine bone china, and meat. However, an untold number were killed to “ control “ and “ civilize” the American Indian population.

Because of some forward-thinking individuals, the species was saved from extinction and slowly began to rebound, albeit mostly in privately held herds. With the reintroduction of wild herds and the restoration of grassland habitats, we can finally see how vital the bison is to grasslands across the country. Bison are considered a keystone species in the tallgrass prairie because of their ability to create biodiversity by selectively grazing on the few dominant grass species; they play an essential role in the nutrient cycles by consuming unavailable forms of nitrogen (in the grasses they graze) and return, through their urine and feces, that nitrogen to the soil in readily available forms for the immediate use by plants. Because of their roaming nature, they graze, pee, and poop across the landscape, creating a resilient grassland ecosystem. One, in which their removal would have dramatic consequences on the diversity and resiliency of the habitat.

A Brief History of the Bison

October Big Day: A Celebration of Avian Biodiversity

Restoration is a Journey