The Plains Bison Survival of the plains bison in an ever-changing world.

Morgan Tucker

Prof. McCarty

Biology 113

21 Nov. 2014

Photo by Jack Dykinga.

Overview

All bison are herbivores and they have only one blood

type. Their diet consists of grass and low-lying shrubbery.

North American Buffalo have under gone many changes.

Early animals had to adapt to climate changes.

Western expansion decimated their populations.

Cattle related diseases are affecting them.

Few purebreds are left due to cross breeding.

Rebounding from such small numbers is the problem

facing buffalo today.

The Early BuffaloHistory records three groups inhabited North America.

Bison Latifrons

Bison Antiquus

Bison Occidentalis

1st Group: Bison Latifrons

They crossed into North America from

Asia 200,000 – 800,000 years ago.

Large horns protruded from their skulls at

right angles.

They spread across Northern and Central

America.

This large animal was well adapted to

the Ice Age.

About 120,000 years ago, they died out.

Climate changes may have caused their

food source to become scarce.

Photo by James St. John.

2nd Group: Bison Antiquus

Bison Latifrons gave way to this species

of bison.

Their smaller horns were also aligned at

right angles to their skulls.

They died out about 9,000 - 11,000

thousand years ago.

This group apparently cohabitated with

early humans.

Photo by Ed Bierman.

3rd Group: Bison Occidentalis

This group overlapped with the “bison antiquus”.

Their smaller-sized horns angled back from the skull.

During the Ice Age, they migrated west and east

from the Bering Straits.

Researchers speculate that this species of bison split.

The subspecies of bison occidentalis that exist today are:

Plains Buffalo (Bison, Bison)

Wood Buffalo(Bison Athabascae)

Photo by Alan D. Wilson. Photo by Jack Dykinga.

Western ExpansionConflict with civilization and technology.

Buffalo in Early America

Most historians put the buffalo numbers beyond count in

early America. This information was largely based on

reports by the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806).

Lewis and Clark first reported a herd of 3000 buffalo.

Later in their travels, they encountered so many larger

herds, they quit counting.

William Clark Meriwether Lewis

Portraits by Charles Willson Peale (1807)

The expedition, commissioned by President Thomas

Jefferson, first encountered a large herd of 3000 buffalo

along the Missouri river in 1804.

Image by Victor van Werkhooven (2014).

Relationship with the Indians

Originally, the Indians had a symbolistic relationship with the

bison. Hunting buffalo wasn’t easy as the bison could out

run them. Thus they could only kill them in small numbers.

When horses were introduced to North America by Spanish

explorers, American Indians found new ways to hunt buffalo

in larger numbers.

Indians were known for driving buffalo over embankments,

often breaking their legs and immobilizing them to be slain. Painting. Miller A. (1858-1860), [Image], Hunting Buffalo, Retrieved Nov. 19, 2014, from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alfred_Jacob_Miller_-_Hunting_Buffalo_-_Walters_371940190.jpg

Human and Bison Problems

In the early 1800s, the U.S. population moved west and

problems between bison, Indians, and settlers arose.

This ignited conflict with the western plain tribes.

Rifles made it easy to hunt and kill buffalo for sport.

Ranchers needed grass that buffalo ate for their cattle.

Farmers’ crops were trampled by freely roaming bison.

Herds also blocked the efficient movement of trains.

During the American Indian Wars, the U.S. Government

tried to starve the Indians by exterminating bison.

Incompatibility With Civilization

Some of the population change can be attributed to the

civilization’s incompatibility to coexist with bison. Several of

the buffalo’s characteristics and attributes that may have

contributed to their sudden decline are:

They are hard to fence in.

They trampled crops.

They consume the same food sources as cattle.

They are not easily domesticated.

The males can be dangerous.

Commercially Hunted

Several things that contributed to the Plains Bison being

hunted to near extinction are:

Buffalo hunters found them easy prey as they could

be shot without alerting the others.

Hunting buffalo became a sport.

There was an increased demands for bison products.

When refrigerated railroad cars entered the scene in

the 1870s, it became much easier to move the meat

and hides back east.

Pile of Bison Skulls During the 1870’s

Note. Unknown Author. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bison_skull_pile_edit.jpg

Most bison were killed by hunters. Even Teddy Roosevelt

headed west to shoot one before there were all gone.

However, he later played a major role in their preservation.

Evidence of a ProblemPopulation, disease, and genetic diversity issues.

Population Decrease

We know that from the writings of both the Spanish

explorers and the Lewis and Clark Expedition that large

bison populations were very prevalent in early America.

Bison populations were around 50 thousand in 1500

and 40 thousand in 1830.

By 1840 bison could no longer be found east of the

Mississippi.

Historians agree by 1883 the big herds were gone.

The first survey taken in 1888, reported that only 1300

buffalo remained with 99 percent in North America.

In 1889, William T. Hornaday put the count at 1091 in a

survey for the Smithsonian Institution (Dary, 1975).

Today the population of the plains bison in North

America is estimated at over 20,500.

Population History

1500 1830 1889 1903 1930 1939 1986

Bison

50,000,000Bison

40,000,000

Bison

542

Bison

1,644

Bison

4,000

Bison

5,000

Bison

100,000

Note. Adapted from Sample M. (1987, p. 32), [Chart], BISON, Symbol of the American West, Billings and Helena, Montana: Falcon

Press Publishing Co., Inc.

Disease: Brucellosis

In 1917, Brucellosis (undulant fever for humans) was first

diagnosed in bison. Although, It did not become a major

concern until the U.S. Government was involved in a

cattle eradication program in the 1960’s. The problem

was due to cattle being grazed in close proximity to the

bison. Research revealed the following:

Brucellosis results in still born and aborted calves.

Some buffalo seemed to have built up a resistance.

Others just remained carriers of the disease.

At this time there is no treatment in use for bison.

Genetic Diversity

The most prominent threat to the bison herds lies with the

current status of their genetics. There are two factors are

attributed to the lack of purebred bison.

1. Crossbreeding with cattle.

2. Inbreeding amongst small purebred herds.

According to Montana.gov, “The genetic integrity and

natural genetic diversity of the species is compromised,

as the introgressed DNA replaces portions of the original

genome (Gates el al., 2010)”.

Why Crossbreed?

The primary reason for crossbreeding buffalo with cattle is

to give the meat more flavor. Buffalo meat is very lean

and a cross between the two adds more fat content.

Crossbreeding began as early as 1888.

A cross between bison and domestic cattle is cattlo.

Cattle and bison do not naturally breed unless put in

captivity together.

Most commercial breeding is done artificially.

This practice has greatly affected the purity of today’s

bison herds.

Laws and PoliciesWhat the states and the government are doing.

The American Bison Society

The one organization that really stood out for fostering the return of the buffalo was the American Bison Society (ABS) founded in 1905 by conservationists William T. Hornaday and Theodore Roosevelt.

Working with about 100 buffalo under government control at the Smithsonian Zoological Park in Washington D.C., the ABS accomplished three things:

Organized herds.

Founded sanctuaries and ranges.

Lobbied congress for bills that increased the population.

Having great success, the membership declined and they disbanded in 1935. However, in 2005 the ABS was reinstated in an effort to preserve the bison populations.

Indian Tribal Land

Until recently the buffalo were not raised in any

numbers on the Indian reservations.

Other livestock were more common.

Later Indian tribal governments partnered with the

federal government.

Buffalo were finally reintroduced to tribal lands.

Buffalo Refuges & Sanctuaries

Today most plains bison are relegated to:

National parks

Wildlife preserves

Indian reservations

Zoos

Private ranches

EntitiesAddressing the problem.

State and Federal Support

In 2008 the Department of the Interior (USDI) published a

bison conservation initiative guide to managing USDI herds.

Genetic management is one of its listed efforts.

It has also chartered a bison conservation and

management working group.

Unfortunately, the USDI has no federal proposals to manage

bison outside U.S. Refuges. Most of the support for buffalo

comes from Montana and Yellowstone National Park.

Current Status of Buffalo

Thanks to private ranches and advances in DNA,

some concerns have been alleviated.

The public herd at Yellowstone National Park is cattle-

free introgression.

Testing in 2007 indicated that the bison at Ted Turner’s

Vermejo Park Ranch are free of cattle genes as well.

Buffalo are no longer listed as threatened on the

endangered species list by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service (USFWS).

Plains Bison are considered near-threatened.According to p. 137 of the Conservation Actions of Government Agencies document

on Montana.gov, “Bison are not listed by the USFWS as a threatened or endangered

species; there is no requirement under the Endangered Species Act for formal bison

restoration (USFS, 2001, pp. 2-14)”.

Note. Adapted from Peter Halasz, [Chart], Retrieved from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Status_iucn2.3_NT.svg.

What Can You Do?

Suggestions/Ideas:

Make people aware.

Try to get more federal involvement.

Write congressmen.

Join organizations.

Write articles in magazines and newspapers.

Donate to private ranches, refuges, and national

parks.

Summary

These great beasts have had a long history dating

back to the Ice Age.

They have adapted and endured many changes

throughout their existence.

The two species of bison that exist today have

dramatically returned from near extinction.

The small populations have survived intact.

Brucellosis and genetic diversity (lack of purebreds)

are the continuing bison issues of today.

With assistance from humans, they should flourish in

their purebred form.

References

Bierman E. (2012), [Photograph], Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bison_antiquus.jpg

Dary D. (1975) The Buffalo Book. Chicago, Illinois: The Swanson Press, Inc.

Dykinga J. (2014), Image Number K5680-1 [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/k5680-1.htm

John J. (2007), [Photograph], Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bison_latifrons_fossil_buffalo.jpg

McDonald J. (1981) North American Bison, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press.

Miller A. (1858-1860), [Image], Hunting Buffalo, Retrieved Nov. 19, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alfred_Jacob_Miller_-

Hunting_Buffalo_-_Walters_371940190.jpg

Peale C. (1807), [Image], Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lewis_and_Clark.jpg

Sample M. (1987) BISON, Symbol of the American West, Billings and Helena, Montana: Falcon Press Publishing Co., Inc.

Stephanie A. (2011, June 24) Genetics [PDF]. Retrieved from http://fwp.mt.gov/fishAndWildlife/management/bison/plainsEcology.html

Stephanie A. (2011, June 24) Conservation Actions of Government Agencies [PDF]. Retrieved from

http://fwp.mt.gov/fishAndWildlife/management/bison/plainsEcology.html

Tindall G. and Shi D. (2013) America: A Narrative History, New York, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Werkhooven V. (2014), [Image], Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carte_Lewis_and_Clark_Expedition.png

Wilson A. (2005), [Photograph], Retrieved from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bis%C3%B3_de_bosc.jpg