Catch'Um binoculars logoCatch’Um
Bison (Bison bison) wildlife photograph

Field guide · rare

Bison

The thunder of the prairie, a shaggy-headed giant that once numbered in the tens of millions across North America.

Near Threatened

Bison bison

Overview

The American bison is the largest land mammal in North America, with bulls weighing over 900 kilograms and sporting massive heads covered in thick wool. They can run at 65 km/h and jump nearly two metres vertically, surprising agility for an animal that looks like a living boulder.

Bison shaped the Great Plains ecosystem for millennia, grazing grasslands and creating wallows that become mini-wetlands. Driven to the edge of extinction by the 1890s, they have recovered through conservation herds in Yellowstone, Badlands, and private ranches.

Habitat

  • Prairie
  • Grassland
  • Open woodland

Grassland, prairie, and open woodland across the western US and Canada suit bison. Yellowstone National Park holds the only continuously wild population that has never been domesticated.

Countries found

Field notes

Field scale for the Bison: length around 2-3.5 m; height 1.5-2 m at shoulder; weight 400-1,000 kg. Typical lifespan: Around 15-20 years in the wild.

When you are scanning habitat, prioritise prairie, grassland, and open woodland. Those settings are where a clean look and a usable photo are most likely.

Quick ID anchor: Huge shaggy brown bovine with a massive shoulder hump, short curved horns, and a heavy bearded head. Front half is much bulkier and darker than the hindquarters. Confirm with behaviour and habitat before you log the discovery.

Diet

Grazers of prairie grasses and sedges, also browsing forbs seasonally. Use the massive head and neck to push snow aside in winter to reach forage.

Behaviour

Form herds that move across open grassland; bulls often separate outside the rut. Wallow in dust or mud, and can run surprisingly fast despite their bulk.

How to identify

Huge shaggy brown bovine with a massive shoulder hump, short curved horns, and a heavy bearded head. Front half is much bulkier and darker than the hindquarters.

Interesting facts

  1. 01

    Bison can run at 65 km/h and jump 1.8 metres vertically from a standstill.

  2. 02

    Their hump is muscle, not fat, used for ploughing through snow.

  3. 03

    Bison were nearly extinct by 1890, fewer than 1,000 remained.

Conservation status

NT: Near Threatened

American bison are Near Threatened as a wild species, though large numbers exist in commercial herds. True wild genetics survive mainly in Yellowstone and a handful of other conservation herds.

Sources: IUCN Red List

Keep exploring

Where it lives

Related discoveries

Free on iOS

Catch the Bison

Spot one in the wild, then scan it in Catch'Um to log your rare discovery.