The big wooly beasts we know as Buffalo, in the American West, are unknown and misunderstood by most of us Americans; American Buffalo (Bison) are either in a zoo, or standing around in Yellowstone National Park as we drive by, or as I prefer them, on a bun with melted cheese!  Yet, data from the past fifteen years suggest that you have a 300% better chance of being badly injured in Yellowstone by a Buffalo.  

     When the British tried to domesticate Buffalo in the eighteenth century, it was given up because they had a "wild and ungovernable temper."  Which explains why so many tourists get mauled by them when "they looked so tame."  Here are some facts to ponder....a Buffalo can jump six feet Buffalo, Thermopolis, WyomingAmerican Buffalo, Bison Photographed in Hot Springs State Park, Wyoming. vertically, they can run 40 mph, and not even razor wire will keep them in.  A mature male can weigh well over 3,000 pounds, and be over eleven feet long and over six feet at the shoulder; all this and a bad temper to boot!

     Before I get any farther we need to label these largest of animals in the West.  The first recorded incident of a name given these creatures was in 1625, and they were called Buffalo.  The name Bison was not recorded for this species till 1774; so no matter what your teacher said, they are Buffalo!  The DNA analysis clearly shows that their closest relative is the Yak, and migrated over the land bridge from Asia.  And what amused me the most while researching this blog was the fact that the Buffalo used to range as far east as New York; maybe we could reintroduce them to some wild place....like Central Park!

Baby Buffalo, Thermopolis, WyomingBaby American Buffalo, Photographed in Hot Springs State Park, Thermopolis, Wyoming.      Before Europeans arrived in the fifteenth century, it's been estimated that there were near 60 million Buffalo in America, but by 1890 there were little more than 500 left.  It's a little hard to imagine that many bullets and that much wasted slaughter; but now the population has rebounded to over 500,000, largely because of conservation issues, and the aforementioned melted cheese thing.  Buffalo is lower in fat and cholesterol than beef, and higher in protein, too.  I personally prefer it to beef, if you can afford it (prices have skyrocketed).  

     As far as the issue of bovine diseases in Buffalo, and where it came from in the first place, and all the politics involved, it's clear to scientists that these diseases came from cattle in the first place; not the other way around, like some agendas would have you believe.  These large, bad tempered, tasty Buffalo deserve some space, at the very least on your table....treat them with respect, and keep your distance and use a longer lens; as you should with all wildlife in Wyoming.