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Driven To The Brink Of Extinction, Bison Revival Is A Conservation Success Story

By Reid Neureiter

For the GPHN

Want to get up close and personal with the largest land mammal in North America?

Take a tour around the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge’s 11 mile-long Wildlife Drive and you might have an eye-to-eye encounter with a 2,000-pound Plains bison bull. But stay in your car, as these beasts are wild animals and can be aggressive. And, they are deceptively fast — able to run 35 miles per hour and jump six feet high.

For safety reasons, visitors to the Refuge’s bison area must remain in their vehicles, and try to keep at least 75 feet away from the animals.

According to Sarah Metzer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife visitor services manager for the Refuge, there are currently 211 bison in the herd. Calving season begins in late March into April. Each year the herd produces between 40 and 50 “red dogs” — as the bison calves are called because of their reddish color just after being born.

Metzer said that the herds are regularly rotated to different pastures across the 15,988-acre (that’s nearly 25 square miles) protected land so that they can get enough forage and to help with the Refuge’s management goals.

Last month, as well as this month, the herd can frequently be seen within the first mile or two after crossing a cattle guard and entering the fenced enclosure on the Wildlife Drive, which begins near the southeast section of the Refuge. The great beasts sometimes meander along, grazing just feet from slow-passing tourist vehicles. Metzer says that while the bison usually ignore cars, signs of agitation include when a bison starts licking its lips, holding its tail straight up, or begins making grunting sounds. Any of these indicators suggest you should move further away.

Bison or buffalo?

“Bison” is the correct scientific term for these massive, prehistoric-looking bovines, but the vernacular “buffalo” is used interchangeably. The word buffalo actually predates the use of bison to describe the animal, as early French trappers called them boeufs, thinking the creatures looked like the old-world Asian or African bovines.

The Rocky Mountain Arsenal bison herd is part of the U.S. Department of Interior’s ongoing efforts to bring back wild bison from the brink of extinction. Prior to European settlement, more than 30 million bison roamed North America from Alaska to Mexico and as far east as Georgia and New York. But, by the late 1800’s, bison were close to being wiped out, with only several hundred remaining in the wild. The only place where wild bison have lived continuously is what is now Yellowstone National Park.

In recognition of the bison’s historic importance, and as a mark of its conservation success story, on May 9, 2016, President Barack Obama named the American bison the national mammal of the United States, joining the Bald Eagle as an official symbol of our country.

Paradoxically, in the 1870’s the United States Army implicitly endorsed the systematic extermination of the American bison as part of the effort to conquer the Plains Indians.

The 2021 Fish and Wildlife publication, “Songs on the Wind, Hooves on the Landscape,” quotes a University of Montana anthropology professor explaining that as long as the Plains bison existed as a food source for Native Americans, the government would have trouble moving the tribes into reservations. So, the U.S. Army facilitated an extensive market for hides and recreational bison hunts, during which millions of bison were slaughtered — as many as 5,000 a day. One Army colonel is reported to have told a wealthy hunter in 1867, “Kill every buffalo you can! Every dead buffalo is an Indian gone.”

Demand for buffalo robes and bison leather, which was used for mechanical belts during the industrial revolution, meant the extermination of the vast herds on which Native Americans relied. It also meant the corresponding end of the free-roaming Plains tribes, as they were effectively starved into submission.

Embracing the old ways

Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages bison herds across six national wildlife refuges, alongside other Department of Interior agencies including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the National Park Service. It is estimated that 11,000 bison have been brought back to public lands in 12 states. The largest public herd remains in Yellowstone National Park, with an approximately 4,800 animals.

In 2020, the Department of the Interior laid out a Bison Conservation Initiative organized around five central goals:

1. The maintenance of wild, healthy bison herds;

2. Genetic conservation and diversity across Department of Interior managed herds;

3. A commitment to shared stewardship of wild bison in cooperation with states, tribes, and other stakeholders;

4. The maintenance of wide-ranging bison herds on appropriate large landscapes where their role as ecosystem engineers shape healthy and diverse ecological communities; and

5. A commitment to restore cultural connections to honor and promote the unique status of bison as an American icon for all people.

Every fall the Rocky Mountain Arsenal conducts a bison gathering (the term “roundup” is no longer used). During the gathering, the animals are moved, using low-stress handling techniques, into corrals. There they undergo health checks, and microchips are implanted in calves. Some of the animals are designated for potential transfer to other public herds around the country, which helps promote genetically diverse herds.

In 2021, consistent with the objective of cultural restoration, excess bison from the Arsenal’s gathering were donated to the Wolakota Buffalo Range, a 28,000-acre native grassland on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. During the ownership transfer ceremony at the Arsenal, Tribal members offered prayer and songs, burned sacred medicine to honor the bison, left gifts in offering to the bison for their safety, and to express gratitude for calling them back to their old ways.

“Hosting the Native gathering at the capture, and sending bison to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe is a step in mending our relationships with Indigenous people and the wildlife we protect in our region,” explained  Fish and Wildlife Education Specialist Tom Wall, in “Songs on the Wind, Hooves on the Landscape.”

A new threat

But last year, there was no transfer of bison among Department of Interior herds or to Native lands. Mycoplasma bovis, a bacterial respiratory pathogen with a mortality rate near 25 percent, is threatening both wild and commercial bison herds across the United States and Canada. It is feared that transfer of bison across state lines or between herds may further spread the disease.

As a result, Metzer said this year’s bison gathering was used to test the Arsenal herd for the illness by swabbing penned animals with a giant nasal Q-tip-like apparatus. The herd ultimately was found to be disease-free and excess bison were transferred to the University of Wyoming for research purposes. But Arsenal personnel remain vigilant to protect the health of the herd.

 

Wild And Free

Rocky Mountain Arsenal An Urban Refuge

The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge is six miles north of Park Hill. In addition to bison, the refuge is home to whitetail and mule deer, raptors (including bald eagles), songbirds, waterfowl, prairie dogs, badgers, coyotes and the endangered black-footed ferret, among other animals.

Entry to the Wildlife Refuge is free. It is open sunrise to sunset, seven days a week (except for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day). The Visitor Center hours are Wednesdays through Sundays 9 a.m. to  4 p.m. (closed Mondays, Tuesdays, and federal holidays).

The Refuge also offers extensive gravel walking and bicycle paths, but no walking or cycling is permitted in the bison area. For more information see, https://www.fws.gov/refuge/rocky-mountain-arsenal