American Bison Society

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American bison ranging at the National Bison Range in western Montana, established by the petitioning and fundraising of the American Bison Society American bison on the National Bison Range, Montana.JPG
American bison ranging at the National Bison Range in western Montana, established by the petitioning and fundraising of the American Bison Society

The American Bison Society (ABS) was founded in 1905 by the New York Zoological Society [1] to help save the bison from extinction and raise public awareness about the species by pioneering conservationists and sportsmen including Ernest Harold Baynes (the Society's first secretary), William T. Hornaday, Madison Grant [2] and Theodore Roosevelt.

Contents

Over 40 million American bison (Bison bison) once roamed the plains and grasslands from Mexico to central Canada, shaping the landscape with their migrations, grazing patterns, and behavior. By the 1870s, their populations had been decimated by westward expansion and over-hunting. An 1889 survey published by Hornaday, who would go on to become the first director of the Bronx Zoo, showed that approximately 1,000 bison remained in North America.

History

The American Bison Society was formed to prevent the extinction of the American bison. In 1907, the ABS shipped 15 bison from the Bronx Zoo to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge and Game Preserve in Oklahoma by cart and rail. [3] [4] This was the first animal reintroduction in North America. In 1908, following successful petitioning by ABS, the US Congress passed a bill to establish a permanent National Bison Range in Montana, provided that ABS raise the $10,000 needed to purchase the animals for the herd. They exceeded this fundraising goal, and in 1909, these animals were released on the new national range. [3] In 1913, the New York Zoological Society (now the Wildlife Conservation Society), working with ABS, donated 14 bison to Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota, and ABS assisted in founding the herd at Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge in Nebraska. [3] Because of the secure populations of bison in these public herds, the ABS considered their work done, and the organization was disbanded in 1935. [5]

In 2005, the American Bison Society was re-launched by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) to secure the ecological future of bison in North America. [6]

On August 12, 2010, National Geographic published a progress report on the Wood Bison Recovery Program at Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center that is supported in part by WCS - North America. [7]

Archival Records

The Wildlife Conservation Society holds the William T. Hornday records, which contain all his ingoing and outgoing correspondence during his time as President of the ABS. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">American bison</span> Species of bovid artiodactyl mammal

The American bison, also called the American buffalo or simply buffalo, is a species of bison native to North America. It is one of two extant species of bison, alongside the European bison. Its historical range circa 9000 BC is described as the great bison belt, a tract of rich grassland from Alaska to the Gulf of Mexico, east to the Atlantic Seaboard, as far north as New York, south to Georgia, and according to some sources, further south to northern Florida, with sightings in North Carolina near Buffalo Ford on the Catawba River as late as 1750.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muskox</span> Arctic land mammal

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madison Grant</span> American eugenicist, conservationist, and author (1865–1937)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theodore Roosevelt National Park</span> National park in North Dakota, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge</span> Protected mixed grass prairie on Oklahoma

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wood bison</span> Subspecies of American bison

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Temple Hornaday</span> American conservationist and zoologist

William Temple Hornaday, Sc.D. was an American zoologist, conservationist, taxidermist, and author. He served as the first director of the New York Zoological Park, known today as the Bronx Zoo, and he was a pioneer in the early wildlife conservation movement in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plains bison</span> Subspecies of bison

The plains bison is one of two subspecies/ecotypes of the American bison, the other being the wood bison. A natural population of plains bison survives in Yellowstone National Park and multiple smaller reintroduced herds of bison in many places in the United States as well as southern portions of the Canadian Prairies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bison hunting</span> History of American bison hunting

Bison hunting was an activity fundamental to the economy and society of the Plains Indians peoples who inhabited the vast grasslands on the Interior Plains of North America, before the animal's near-extinction in the late 19th century following US expansion into the West. Bison hunting was an important spiritual practice and source of material for these groups, especially after the European introduction of the horse in the 16th through 19th centuries enabled new hunting techniques. The species' dramatic decline was the result of habitat loss due to the expansion of ranching and farming in western North America, industrial-scale hunting practiced by non-Indigenous hunters increased Indigenous hunting pressure due to non-Indigenous demand for bison hides and meat, and cases of a deliberate policy by settler governments to destroy the food source of the Indigenous peoples during times of conflict.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellowstone bison herd</span> Oldest public herd in the United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wind Cave bison herd</span> American bison in Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota

The Wind Cave bison herd is a herd of 250–400 American bison in Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota, United States. As an active participant in the conservation of American bison, it is believed to be one of only seven free-roaming and genetically pure herds on public lands in North America. The other six herds are in Yellowstone Park, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Henry Mountains, Blue Mounds State Park (Minnesota), Minneopa State Park (Minnesota), and Elk Island National Park. The Wind Cave herd are of the Plains bison subspecies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of bison conservation in Canada</span>

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the plains bison and wood bison in Canada were hunted by nomadic indigenous hunters and white hunters alike. By the 1850s, the bison was nearly extinct, spurring a movement to save the few herds that remained. Federal government wildlife policy evolved from preservation of wilderness to utilitarian, scientific conservation and management of bison populations. The goals of these policies were often contradictory: to simultaneously preserve wildlife, promote recreation, commercialize the bison, and assert state control over Aboriginal Canadians. Bison conservation efforts were shaped by the federal government's colonialist and modernist approach to Canada's North, the management of national parks and reserves, and the influence of scientific knowledge.

Elwin Roswell Sanborn was the first official photographer for the New York Zoological Park, now known as the Bronx Zoo. A self-taught photographer, Sanborn learned to photograph wildlife by doing it. He recorded nearly every species that came into the Bronx Zoo during the first three decades of the twentieth century using black and white photography.

Lee Saunders Crandall was an American ornithologist and General Curator of Bronx Zoo. He worked at the Bronx Zoo from 1908 until his death in 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservation of American bison</span> Effort to increase bison in North America

The conservation of bison in North America is an ongoing, diverse effort to bring American bison back from the brink of extinction. Plains bison, a subspecies, are a keystone species in the North American Great Plains. Bison are a species of conservation concern in part because they suffered a severe population bottleneck at the end of the 19th century. The near extinction of the species during the 19th century unraveled fundamental ties between bison, grassland ecosystems, and indigenous peoples’ cultures and livelihoods. English speakers used the word buffalo for this animal when they arrived. Bison was used as the scientific term to distinguish them from the true buffalo. Buffalo is commonly used as it continues to hold cultural significance, particularly for Indigenous people.

References

  1. "Bison Bellows: Wildlife Conservation Society and American Bison Society (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  2. "Madison Grant". National Park Service. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Annual Report of the American Bison Society 1905 - 1907. The Society. 1908.
  4. Milman, Oliver (2016-04-30). "Return of the bison: new American national symbol tells story of strife". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-04-12.
  5. Zotigh, Dennis (September 13, 2022). "The Return of a National Icon". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
  6. "Bison - WCS.org". www.wcs.org. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  7. Schaul, Jordan. "Wood bison to be returned to their ancient range in Alaska". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 2010-08-17. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
  8. "Collection: American Bison Society. Office of President. William T. Hornaday records | Wildlife Conservation Society Archives". wcsarchives.libraryhost.com. Retrieved 2023-11-29.