Bison in Yellowstone National Park
The Buffalo
While grazin' quietly a man I see
so I watch him, as he watches me
the question bein' who's gonna flee!
I guess he will 'cuz I'm that big
but I can't stand his feathered wig.
So I’ll just blow me, lots of snot
and watch his pony spook a lot
Well! it bucks to the West, lands in the East
for I the buffalo, am a mighty beast.
Brown and hairy, but do I care
these northern plains, I will not share
but! go young Indian do not fear
as your painted pony starts to rear.
I shall let you live to tell the tale
brave young Warrior who's face is pale
as the sunset fades over mountains yonder
I can't help but to look and wonder
why the painted pony stands quiet and proud beneath western skies without a cloud
but then I see, in the Warrior's eyes, sad tears have filled for I the buffalo,
shall be killed.
~ Mary Ann Pont
Bison are enjoyed by visitors, celebrated by conservationists, and revered by Native Americans. The bison (often referred to as buffalo) have lived in the Yellowstone Park Ecosystem for centuries.
A bison has a shaggy, dark brown winter coat, and a lighter weight, lighter brown summer coat. In the past, there have been bison with a rare condition where the calf turns entirely white. White bison are considered sacred by many Native Americans.
Bison are the largest mammals in Yellowstone National Park. They can reach up to 6.6 feet tall, 10 feet long, and weigh 900 to 2,200 pounds. The biggest specimens on record have weighed as much as 2,500 pounds (1,130 kg). The heads and forequarters are massive, and both sexes have short, curved horns, which they use in fighting for status within the herd and for defense.
Bison are strictly vegetarian! They are nomadic grazers of grasslands and sedges in the meadows, the foothills, and even the high-elevation, forested plateaus of Yellowstone. In the winter month’s bison will use their large heads like plows to push aside snow and find winter food. They will forage vegetation in the thermal areas (around hot springs and geysers).
Bison mate from July through early August and females bear one reddish-brown calf the following April and May. Calves will nurse for a year and remain with the cow until sexual maturity (3-6 years).
During spring and early summer at Yellowstone, new-born calves can often be viewed in the Firehole area and the Lamar Valley. Although viewing the young calves can be an exciting experience, it is very important that you do not get too close to the animals for observation or photographs. Yellowstone visitors are gored every year, because they venture too near in attempts to photograph the animals.
|
Wolves will sometimes prey on bison cows and calves, grizzlies rarely do. When a predator initiates the hunt the calves display five apparent defense strategies: running to a cow, running to a herd, running to the nearest bull, run in the front or center of a stampeding herd, and entering water bodies such as lakes or rivers. When fleeing wolves in open areas, cows with young calves take the lead, while bulls take to the rear of the herds, to guard the cows' escape.
Bison may appear big and slow, but they can run up to 30 miles per hour!
Myths and legends
The Native Americans of the Plains have many stories of the proud buffalo and how it saved their peoples from starvation. One particular story is about the White Buffalo Calf Woman who appeared when two Lakota hunters were sent off to scout for food during a time of famine. A beautiful young woman dressed in white approaches and one of the scouts is filled with desire for her and wants to claim her for his wife. He embraced the woman and a cloud enveloped the pair. After a while, the cloud disappeared and only the mysterious woman remained.
The remaining scout was frightened and began to draw his bow, but the woman beckoned him forward, telling him that no harm would come to him.
As the woman was fluent in Lakota, the young man decided she was one of his tribe, and came forward. When he arrived, she pointed to a spot on the ground where the other scout's bare bones lay. She explained that the Crazy Buffalo had compelled the man to desire her, and she had annihilated him. This frightened the remaining scout and he drew his bow again.
At this time, the woman explained that she was Wakan (sacred) and his weapons could not harm her. She further explained that if he did as she instructed no harm would befall him and that his tribe would become more prosperous. The scout promised to do what she instructed, and was told to return to his encampment, call the Council and prepare a feast for her arrival.
The sacred woman’s name was Ptesan-Wi, which means White Buffalo Calf Woman. She taught the Lakotas many sacred rituals and gave them the sacred pipe (Chununpa); which is the holiest of all worship symbols. After teaching the people and giving them her gifts, Ptesan-Wi left them promising to return . . . “With this holy pipe, you will walk like a living prayer," she said. Ptesan-Wi told the people about the value of the buffalo, the women and the children. "You are from Mother Earth," she told the women, "What you are doing is as great as the warriors do."
As Ptesan-Wi walked away, she rolled over four times, turning into a white female buffalo calf. It is said after that day the Lakota honored their pipe, and buffalo were plentiful.
Later, the story became attributed to the goddess Wohpe: the goddess of peace and daughter of the moon. When Roman Catholic missionaries first came among the Lakota, their stories of the Virgin Mary and Jesus became associated with the legend of White Buffalo Calf Woman. Christian Lakotas still identify Mary with Ptesan-Wi and Jesus with the Chununpa to this day.
Bison: Past and Present
Yellowstone National Park is the only place in the lower 48 states where a population of wild bison has persisted since prehistoric times, even though fewer than 50 native bison remained here in 1902. In the early 1800s, an estimated 65 million bison roamed throughout the continent of North America.
Market hunting and poaching in the 19th century had a devastating effect on the bison population in North America. Brought to the brink of extinction before the establishment of Yellowstone National Park, protection and sanctuary for the bison did not occur until the U.S. Army arrived in 1886 to protect the park's resources.
Fearing extinction, the park imported 21 bison from two privately-owned herds, as foundation stock for a bison ranching project that spanned 50 years at the Buffalo Ranch in Yellowstone's Lamar Valley. Activities there included irrigation, hay-feeding, roundups, culling, and predator control, to artificially ensure herd survival. By the 1920s, some intermingling of the introduced and wild bison had begun.
With protection from poaching and manipulative management over the years the native and transplanted populations increased. Since 1968 the population has been allowed to fluctuate based on environmental conditions (winter weather, food availability, etc.).
In the 1970s and 1980s, there were a series of cool, wet summers followed by mild winters. These conditions allowed for an abundance of grasses for the bison to feed on and a reduction in the winter mortality rate.
Today, the Yellowstone bison still face conflict and struggle. Bison that leave the protection of the park and wander into Montana are not always welcome. They have an unexpected ability, given the animal’s size and body structure, to leap over standard barbed wire fences! But the most recent concern is the disease called brucellosis which can cause abortions in domestic cattle.
There are some bison infected with the disease, but there are no documented cases of wild, free-ranging bison transmitting brucellosis to cattle in the wild. Still, the possibility of transmitting the disease exists if domestic cattle come into contact with infected birthing material or a new-born calf of an infected bison.
Most bison stay within the park boundaries during the winter months. Bison managers have tried to limit the bison’s use of lands outside of the park. When they do travel beyond the boundaries of protected areas they are often hazed back into the park or hunted or captured and tested for brucellosis. Bison that test positive on blood tests must be removed from the population and are shipped to slaughter plants for processing of the meat, hides, and skulls.
The brucellosis disease has few population level effects for the bison. Their population fluctuates from year to year. In recent years (between 1997-2003) the population almost doubled. Currently, about 4,000 wild, free-ranging bison live in Yellowstone.
In the long term, it would be beneficial to allow natural ecological processes regulate this unique wild, free-ranging herd of bison.
|
|
