Readers are probably aware of the near extinction of the American Bison, aka buffalo. The shaggy beasts roamed much of the now United States in the tens of millions, estimates suggest. But a concentrated effort ending in the late 19th Century killed about 99.9 percent of the animals. One of the last wild herds lived in Yellowstone National Park. Just before 1900 the Yellowstone wild bison had been reduced to 23 in number.
According to reports the near miracle survival of that herd has resulted in a healthy, stable and genetically diverse mega herd of pure wild bison.
Although the bison were near extinction in most of the United States there were a few other pockets besides Yellowstone. Other bison had been partly domesticated and cross-bred with cattle. Today there are several hundred thousand bison, but a high proportion are not pure bred.
Because the Yellowstone bison ar pure bred their population is extremely important for future conservation efforts.
The Yellowstone herd is big enough that it is overcrowding the park. Limited hunting and transfers to other herds are among the tools used to keep the animals numbers in check.
Although there have been successes, bison face challenges even in Yellowstone. Harsh winters can be deadly. The importation of wolves into the park has reintroduced natural predation into their lives. All big game world wide faces the risk of illegal trophy hunting or poaching. Another threat is disease as bison ae susceptible to illnesses spread if they get too close to domestic cattle.
As many as 30,000 wild bison live in the United States today, about 6,000 in Yellowstone. The others are scattered into smaller herds shepherded by Native Americans and other agencies and conservators. Bison remains a popular specialty meat and more than 400,000 bison are held in private hands, many of them those of ranchers.