American Bison

Expansion: Endangered Animals

Fame: 0.5 stars

Base Donation Amount: 60

Max Tour Value: 20

Adopt Rarity: 1

Prey Classification: Large Prey (adult), Medium Prey (young)

Zoopedia

Conservation Status: Lower Risk

Class: Mammals (Mammalia)

Order: Even-Toed Ungulates (Artiodactyla)

Family: Bovids (Bovidae)

Genus: Bison

Species: bison

Grassland

North America

To unlock the American bison in challenge or campaign games, you must earn a 1/2-star zoo fame rating for your zoo.

The bison is the largest terrestrial animal in North America, where it is commonly called buffalo. Biologists prefer the term bison, which is based on the animal's Latin name, as it distinguishes it from the cape buffalo of Africa and the water buffalo of Asia.

The bison is characterized by a hump over the front shoulders; short, sharply pointed horns (in both sexes) curving outward and up from the sides of the massive head; and slimmer hindquarters. A mature bull of the North American bison is about 2 m (about 6.5 ft) high at the hump and 2.7 to 3.7 m (9 to 12 ft) long and weighs 850 to 1100 kg (1800 to 2400 lb); the female is smaller. The head, neck, forelegs, and front parts of the body have a thick coat of long, dark hair. The rear part of the body is covered with much shorter hair. The adult bull usually has a black beard about 30 cm (about 12 in) long.

Bison are usually found in groups, except for old, solitary bulls. Most of the year females with young form small bands, and immature bulls may stay with them. Mature males have their own groups. The bands may congregate in large herds in the spring or fall to search for food or water. Bison grunts and snorts are audible at short distances. The roar of rutting bulls, audible at nearly 5 km (nearly 3 mi), is heard most often in mating season, mainly July to September, when bulls go looking for cows and try to ward off rivals. Breeding bulls have little time to eat and lose more than 90 kg (about 200 lb) during mating season. Gestation is eight to nine months, and a single yellow-red calf is born. After a few days the calf can keep up with the herd and follows its mother until the following spring.

The bison originated in Eurasia and is one of the few members of its family to have crossed the Bering Strait land bridge in prehistoric times to North America, where two subspecies, the plains bison and the wood bison, survive. The European bison, or wisent, taller but lighter than the American bison, is almost extinct; a few exist in parks and zoos.

Until the 19th century, as many as 60 million bison lived on the Great Plains from Mexico into Canada, and some were found east of the Mississippi River. They were central to the existence of the Plains peoples, who used them for food, hides, and bone implements; even the dried dung, called buffalo chips, was used as fuel. From 1830 to 1889, methodical destruction by encroaching white settlers, for sport and for hides, reduced this number to less than 1000. Today well over 200,000 bison live in protected areas and on private ranches.

Fun American Bison Facts

Content provided courtesy of Microsoft® Encarta® Reference Library 2005. © 1993–2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Errors and Trivia

Recent genetic studies place bisons within the genus Bos, containing cattle. Others argue that incomplete lineage separation, morphology, or the fossil record justify keeping Bison a separate genus. Watch this space.

American Bison Exhibit Guide

Needs 2+ animals.

The cheapest exhibit plan I could find that takes up more than 43.75 squares is an oblique rectangle costing $1,500. In the future I may do an article on how using diagonals affects Zoo Tycoon 2 fencing costs.

Adoption cost: $1,250

Space for first animal: 37.5 squares (150 triangles)

Space per additional animal: 6.25 squares (25 triangles)

Cheapest Fence: Low tundra fence, $75/square, $1,500 total for a 2-animal exhibit

Food: None required (grazes and browses), eats grass, hay, and berries

Enrichment: None required, uses carrot and salt lick

Shelter: None required, uses shade structure, small wooden shelter, and stables

Native Biome: Grassland (+10)

Other Compatible Biomes: Boreal Forest (+2), Temperate Forest (0)

Swims?: Yes

Total Cost: $4,000 for a 2-animal exhibit, excluding foliage or rocks


Compatible Animals (Grassland):

Compatible Animals (Other Biomes):

*Will eat baby bison.