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Bison Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.
"Buffalo" redirects here. For the city in New York, see Buffalo, New York.
| Bison | |
|---|---|
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| Bison bison or buffalo | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Bovidae |
| Subfamily: | Bovinae |
| Genus: | Bison Hamilton Smith, 1827 |
Bison are a type of even-toed ungulate bovines. They are the biggest mammals in North America. They are often called buffalo, but are not closely related to African buffalo or water buffalo. They used to wander around the prairies of North America in huge herds.
Contents
American
American bison are large, plant-eating mammals that are similar to cows. There used to be as many as 30 million bison in the United States, but because of hunting, by 1890, only 1,000 bison were left. Through conservation efforts, there are now more American bison than there used to be, but still far fewer than there were before the 1800s.
For more details, see American bison
European
European bison (wisent) tend to live in lightly wooded to fully wooded areas and areas with increased shrubs and bushes, though they can also live on grasslands and plains.
For more details, see wisent
Taxonomy
They are classified in the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae
- Genus Bison
- American bison (Bison bison)
- Wisent or European bison (Bison bonasus)
Distribution
Bison live in the northern part of the world. The American bison lives in North America, and the wisent lives in Europe. They can also live in rugged areas.
Life
They live to be about 20 years old and are born without their "hump" or horns, which both males and females have. After shedding their light colored hair, and with their horns, they are grown at 2 to 3 years of age, but the males keep growing slowly until about age seven. Adult bulls are very dominant in mating season. Adult bison usually have one or two baby bison.
Images for kids
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Magdalenian bison on plaque, 17,000–9,000 BCE, Bédeilhac grottoe, Ariège
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Skulls of European bison (left) and American bison (right)
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A group of images by Eadweard Muybridge, set to motion to illustrate the movement of the bison
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"Last of the Canadian Buffaloes", 1902, photograph: Steele and Company
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A bison and an elk grazing together in the Yellowstone National Park.
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Wolves hunting bison
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Photo from the 1870s of a pile of American bison skulls waiting to be ground for fertilizer.
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A bison charges an elk at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.