The Story Behind the Bison’s Comeback from Near Extinction

Teeming Herds: Historical Population and Range

Before European colonization, bison populations were staggering by modern standards. Conservative estimates suggest 30 million animals, while some historians place the number as high as 60 million. These massive herds weren't confined to a small region – they ranged across approximately 2.8 million square miles of North America. From the eastern woodlands to the Rocky Mountains, from the Gulf of Mexico to central Canada, bison were a dominant presence. Their range encompassed diverse landscapes, including prairies, plains, river valleys, and even mountainous regions.

Early European explorers and settlers frequently described bison herds in awe-struck terms. In 1832, Washington Irving wrote of herds that "blackened the whole face of the country." George Catlin, traveling along the upper Missouri River in the 1830s, described "an endless mass of black" that "seemed to be a pulsating thing." These vast herds weren't static entities – they migrated seasonally, following the growth of grasses and responding to climate patterns. This movement was essential for prairie health, as grazing patterns allowed for vegetation regeneration and prevented any single area from being overgrazed.

Cultural Cornerstone for Indigenous Peoples

For numerous Indigenous nations across North America, the bison was more than just a food source – it was the center of cultural, spiritual, and economic life. Tribes of the Great Plains like the Lakota, Blackfeet, Comanche, Cheyenne, and Crow developed entire lifeways around the bison. The animal provided nearly everything these communities needed: meat for sustenance, hides for tipis and clothing, bones for tools, sinew for bowstrings, and bladders for water containers. Even the dried dung, called "buffalo chips," served as an essential fuel source on the treeless plains.

The spiritual connection between Indigenous peoples and bison ran deep. Many tribes incorporated bison into their creation stories and sacred ceremonies. The Lakota White Buffalo Calf Woman brought the sacred pipe and seven ceremonies to the people, establishing a sacred covenant. The Blackfeet's Sun Dance, their most important religious ceremony, centered on bison symbolism. This intimate relationship created sophisticated ecological knowledge, with traditional hunting practices that maintained herd health and sustainability for thousands of years. The cultural devastation caused by the bison's near-extinction cannot be overstated – it represented not just the loss of a food source but an assault on entire ways of life and spiritual systems.

The Great Slaughter: Causes of Near Extinction

The decline of the American bison represents one of history's most rapid and devastating wildlife destructions. Several factors contributed to this catastrophe, but commercial hunting in the 1870s and 1880s dealt the decisive blow. Following the Civil War, a market for bison hides exploded in the eastern United States and Europe, where they were processed into industrial machine belts, fashion items, and furniture coverings. Professional hunters, armed with newly developed powerful rifles with long-range accuracy, could kill dozens or even hundreds of animals in a single day. Hide hunters would typically take only the valuable skin, leaving carcasses to rot on the plains in staggering numbers.

Beyond commercial interests, the U.S. government actively supported bison destruction as a strategy to control Plains Indian tribes who depended on the animals. General Philip Sheridan famously endorsed the slaughter, reportedly stating: "Let them kill, skin, and sell until the buffalo is exterminated. Then your prairies can be covered with speckled cattle and the festive cowboy." Additionally, the expansion of railroads fractured bison habitat and facilitated mass hunting expeditions, while agricultural development converted prime grazing land to farmland. Disease from domestic cattle further weakened the dwindling herds. By 1889, only about 1,000 bison remained across the entire continent – a 99.998% population collapse in just a few decades.

The Darkest Hour: 1890s Population Nadir

By the early 1890s, the American bison stood at the precipice of extinction. Census estimates from this period vary slightly, but most historians agree that fewer than 1,000 animals remained across the entire continent – a catastrophic decline from tens of millions just a century earlier. These survivors existed in fragmented, isolated pockets: a few hundred protected in the newly established Yellowstone National Park, approximately 250 in captive herds on private ranches, and a small population of wood bison in remote regions of Canada. The wild, free-ranging herds that had once dominated the landscape were effectively gone.

The genetic implications of this population collapse were severe. The species experienced what biologists call a "genetic bottleneck" – a dramatic reduction in genetic diversity that occurs when a population is reduced to a small number of breeding individuals. This loss of genetic variation made the remaining bison more vulnerable to disease, reduced fertility, and limited their ability to adapt to environmental changes. Even if immediate extinction had been averted, many scientists believed the species was functionally doomed due to this genetic impoverishment. The situation was so dire that the Smithsonian Institution commissioned taxidermist William Temple Hornaday to collect specimens for preservation, believing living bison would soon be relegated to museum displays only.

Early Conservation Heroes: The First Recovery Efforts

As the 19th century came to a close, a small but dedicated group of individuals recognized the looming tragedy and took action to prevent the bison's complete extinction. William Temple Hornaday, initially tasked with collecting bison specimens for the Smithsonian, became one of their most passionate advocates. In 1889, he published "The Extermination of the American Bison," a detailed account that shocked the public with its stark assessment of the species' decline. Hornaday didn't stop at documentation – he established a small captive herd at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park and later helped found the American Bison Society in 1905 with President Theodore Roosevelt's support.

Private ranchers also played crucial roles in these early conservation efforts. Charles Goodnight, influenced by his wife Mary Ann's concern for the vanishing bison, preserved a small herd on his Texas ranch beginning in 1878. The Pablo-Allard herd, started by walking Pend d'Oreille tribal member Samuel Walking Coyote bringing orphaned calves to Montana in 1873, grew to hundreds of animals under the management of Michel Pablo and Charles Allard. When the U.S. government declined to purchase this herd, the Canadian government bought most of the animals in 1907, establishing protected herds in national parks. Another key figure was Scotty Philip, who purchased bison from the Dupree family (who had raised orphaned calves) and established a significant protected herd in South Dakota. These private efforts preserved genetic diversity that would have otherwise been lost forever.

The American Bison Society and Federal Protection

The formation of the American Bison Society in 1905 marked a turning point in organized conservation efforts. Under the leadership of William Hornaday and with the enthusiastic support of President Theodore Roosevelt, the society established ambitious goals to protect remaining bison and reintroduce the species to suitable habitats. Their advocacy led directly to the creation of the first federal bison refuge in 1908 – the National Bison Range in Montana, established on land within the Flathead Indian Reservation. Initially stocked with animals from the Pablo-Allard herd, this protected area represented the government's first significant commitment to bison preservation.

Federal protection expanded in subsequent decades, though progress was often slow and inadequate. In 1913, fourteen bison were reintroduced to Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota. A new herd was established at Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge in Nebraska in 1913, and additional refuges followed. Perhaps most significantly, the wild herd that had found refuge in Yellowstone National Park received increased protection as the National Park Service formalized its conservation mandate. These federal protections weren't without controversy – many refuges were established on Indigenous lands, and Native nations were often excluded from management decisions despite their historical relationship with bison. Nevertheless, these protected herds provided the foundation for recovery, with the combined efforts of private ranchers, conservation organizations, and government agencies slowly increasing bison numbers through the early 20th century.

Ecological Restoration: Bison as Keystone Species

As conservation science evolved in the latter half of the 20th century, understanding of bison's ecological importance deepened significantly. Researchers recognized bison as a keystone species – an organism that disproportionately affects its environment relative to its abundance. Their grazing patterns, physical disturbance of the soil, and even their wallowing behaviors create microhabitats that support remarkable biodiversity. Unlike cattle, which graze somewhat indiscriminately, bison selectively feed in patches, creating a mosaic of vegetation heights that provides habitat for diverse bird species, small mammals, and insects. Their massive bodies physically impact the prairie by creating wallows – depressions that collect rainwater and support specialized plant communities.

This ecological understanding transformed conservation approaches from simply preserving bison as living museum pieces to utilizing them as restoration tools for degraded grassland ecosystems. Organizations like The Nature Conservancy began incorporating bison into their landscape management strategies. At preserves like the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Oklahoma, established in 1989, bison grazing works in conjunction with prescribed fire to maintain prairie health. Research at Konza Prairie Biological Station in Kansas has documented how bison grazing increases plant species diversity by up to 25% compared to ungrazed areas. The reintroduction of bison to tribal lands, national parks, and private conservancies has demonstrated that true ecological restoration requires not just preserving habitat, but restoring the ecological processes and relationships that shaped these ecosystems for millennia.

Indigenous Leadership in Modern Conservation

Perhaps the most significant development in bison conservation over the past three decades has been the emergence of Indigenous nations as leaders in restoration efforts. The InterTribal Buffalo Council, established in 1992, now represents over 80 tribes with a collective herd of more than 20,000 bison. These efforts go beyond mere conservation – they represent cultural revitalization and healing of historical trauma. For many Indigenous communities, restoring bison connections means reclaiming sovereignty, traditional foods, spiritual practices, and ecological knowledge suppressed during colonization. The Blackfeet Nation's Iinnii Initiative in Montana has reintroduced bison to their traditional homelands, while the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes have established a cultural herd from Yellowstone bison with genetics untainted by cattle DNA.

These Indigenous-led efforts often incorporate traditional ecological knowledge alongside western science, creating more holistic approaches to conservation. The Sicangu Lakota of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe manage the Wolakota Buffalo Range in South Dakota, which aims to become North America's largest Native American-owned and managed bison herd. Beyond the ecological benefits, these projects address food sovereignty, provide economic opportunities, and support cultural education. The return of bison to tribal lands represents a profound form of healing, as described by Leroy Little Bear of the Blood Tribe: "The buffalo is a symbol of our strength and resilience – they almost went extinct, and so did we. Now the buffalo are coming back, and so are we."

Conservation Status and Current Population

Today, the American bison population has rebounded to approximately 500,000 animals across North America – a remarkable recovery from fewer than 1,000 in the 1890s. However, this number requires important context. The vast majority, about 95%, are found in commercial herds raised for meat production. These animals are often managed like cattle and frequently contain cattle gene introgression from historical crossbreeding attempts. From a conservation perspective, the more significant metric is the roughly 30,000 bison in conservation herds managed primarily for their ecological and cultural value rather than commercial purposes. Within this category, truly wild, free-ranging herds are even rarer – the Yellowstone population of about 5,000 animals represents one of the few genetically pure herds that has never been domesticated.

The species' conservation status reflects this complex reality. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies the American bison as "Near Threatened," acknowledging both its recovery and ongoing challenges. While no longer at immediate risk of extinction, bison occupy less than 1% of their historical range. Genetic issues remain significant, with many conservation herds being too small to maintain long-term genetic diversity without careful management. Disease concerns, particularly brucellosis in the Yellowstone herd, complicate restoration efforts, while habitat fragmentation limits expansion opportunities. Despite these challenges, conservation herds continue to grow in number and size, with new reintroductions regularly occurring on public, private, and tribal lands across the continent.

Ongoing Challenges and Controversies

Despite tremendous progress, bison restoration continues to face significant obstacles. Perhaps the most persistent challenge involves conflicts with agricultural interests. Cattle ranchers often oppose bison reintroductions, citing concerns about disease transmission (particularly brucellosis), competition for grazing land, and damage to fencing. This opposition has been especially pronounced around Yellowstone National Park, where bison migrations outside park boundaries have triggered lethal management actions. Between 1985 and 2022, over 11,000 Yellowstone bison were killed under management protocols, primarily to prevent potential disease transmission to cattle, despite no documented case of bison-to-cattle brucellosis transmission in the wild.

Genetic integrity represents another critical challenge. Decades of crossbreeding with cattle have left many bison herds with cattle DNA introgression, compromising their genetic purity. Recent advances in genetic testing have revealed this issue to be more widespread than previously thought, with studies showing that most conservation herds contain at least some cattle DNA. Space limitations further complicate restoration, as most protected areas are too small to support the landscape-scale movements natural to bison. Political will remains inconsistent, with bison still lacking the comprehensive federal protections afforded to many endangered species. Balancing these complex ecological, economic, and cultural factors makes bison conservation an ongoing challenge requiring collaboration across diverse stakeholders with sometimes competing interests.

Conclusion: A Conservation Success with Work Remaining

The story of the American bison's comeback represents one of wildlife conservation's most inspiring narratives – a species pulled back from the brink of extinction through dedicated human effort. From fewer than 1,000 animals in the 1890s to approximately 500,000 today, the trajectory demonstrates what's possible when science, policy, private initiative, and cultural values align toward a common goal. The bison's return has enriched North American ecosystems, revitalized Indigenous cultural practices, and restored an iconic symbol of the continent's natural heritage.

Yet this success remains incomplete and fragile. Bison occupy a tiny fraction of their historical range, with truly wild herds even more limited. Genetic challenges, policy barriers, habitat fragmentation, and competing land uses continue to constrain full ecological restoration. Perhaps most importantly, the work of reconciling the bison's future with its past requires acknowledging the cultural genocide that accompanied their near-extinction and ensuring Indigenous peoples lead in determining the path forward.

As conservation efforts continue into the 21st century, the bison's story offers both inspiration and caution. It demonstrates our capacity to repair ecological damage while reminding us how easily we can destroy what took millions of years to evolve. The return of the bison shows that with dedication, science, and respect for nature, we can bring species back from the edge of extinction. Yet, it also underscores how fragile these recoveries can be—requiring ongoing protection, habitat management, and collaboration with Indigenous communities who have long valued the bison. As climate change and human development continue to threaten ecosystems, the bison reminds us that conservation is not a one-time effort but a lifelong commitment to coexistence with the natural world.