BISON FACTS Bison can jump six-feet high. Run 40 miles per hour. Bulls can stand six feet high, cows about five feet high. Males measure nine to twelve feet long and females seven to eight feet long. Bison possess broad head short necks, humped shoulders, small hindquarters and short legs. Both the males and females posses sharp curved horns and a short tasseled tail. Bison have a gestation period of 270-285 days, and produce one 40-50- pound cinnamon-colored calf. One bison bull can service 10-15 cows; cows can produce calves for 20-25 years, at a rate of one calf per year. Bison live in herds. They are unpredictable-usually peaceable and quiet, but they can charge without warning. Despite their size, they can move with great speed-walking, trotting, galloping and bounding-they are an awesome sight. When it comes to agility, bison can rotate on their back legs, enabling them to "turn on a nickel."

The Story of The American Bison - "Tatonka"

As an American icon, the buffalo remains a unique symbol of our American heritage and culture. Their story is linked to the story of the expansion of the great American move westward. Their story is both melancholy and joyous.

Commemorated on paper money, state seals and the famous buffalo nickel, buffalo roamed freely on the plains in North America, numbering in the millions before the white man came to these shores.

Native Indians lived in harmony with Tatonka, as they called the majestic beast, using him for food and many other items: clothing, shelter, shields, ropes, boats, and even coffins. The long hair served for ornamentation and its bones were used to construct tools and weapons. The ribs were used as runners for dogsleds. Even the hoofs were essential to making glue and the gall made yellow war paint.

Millions of bison roamed North America at one time. As white man conquered the Great Plains, they also conquered the bison. Around 1830, hunters exerted their power over their environment and slaughtered the beasts senselessly, so that by 1900, fewer than 1000 animals existed in the United States.

To their rescue came conservationists and ranchers, Native Americans and government and private agencies. Together, they have worked to heighten appreciation of the bison and protect the few herds that remained. They moved to save this majestic animal from sure extinction. Now, more than 150 herds live in North America, protected and revered.

Today, there are approximately 344,000 in private herds, in North America today according to the National Bison Association.