Isn't that amazing Runningfox that 23 survived and continued to populate?   The sad thing is that if the ranchers would leave them alone there would be many, many more than the approximately 3000!   These are the last of the genetically pure, free-roaming buffalo and to let them disappear (because of man) is both unconscionable and sad.   We must all continue the fight to allow them freedom.

 [ send green star]

Yellowstone Buffalo History

The Yellowstone herd is both genetically and behaviorally unique, being the only herd with continuously wild ancestry from the days when 50 million buffalo migrated freely across the Great Plains. At the end of the 19th century, after tens of millions had been slaughtered, only 23 wild buffalo survived. Taking refuge in Yellowstone's remote Pelican Valley, this remnant herd ensured the survival of the species in the wild. Today there are a little more than 3,000 buffalo living in and around Yellowstone, comprising America's only free-roaming and unfenced population.

 [ send green star]

Buffalo History

There are many books written about the history of buffalo. They tell the story of the species' rise to dominance of an entire continent; its subsequent fall from grace, and the beginnings of a comeback. Wild Idea Buffalo Company urges you to find and study one or more of the books listed at the end of this brief overview.

The modern buffalo descended from Bison latifrons, an enormous, shaggy, European herbivore that crossed the land bridge that once connected Asia and North America. The crossing took place between 200,000 and 800,000 years ago and not long thereafter the land bridge submerged and North American Bison latifrons was isolated from the old world forever.  (read more......)

http://www.wildideabuffalo.com/buffalo-history.html

 [ send green star]