american bison Archives - Animal Fact Guide

50th Bison Calf Born at Oakland Zoo!

Posted on June 29, 2026 by admin

Oakland Zoo welcomed the fourth bison calf of the season in June! The birth also marked a major milestone: the 50th bison calf born since the start of a program in 2016 to restore bison back to the wild. Photo by Oakland Zoo.

Oakland Zoo welcomed an adorable baby bison earlier this month! Affectionately called a “red dog”, the calf sports a reddish-brown coat and is very playful.

This was the zoo’s fourth bison calf birth this season and the 50th bison birth since the start of Oakland Zoo’s partnership with Blackfeet Nation and Indigenous LED in 2016. The goal of the program is to restore bison to free-ranging herds roaming Blackfeet Territory and Glacier National Park in Montana.

Affectionately called “red dogs”, bison calves sport a reddish-brown coat when they’re born, and they’re very playful. Photo by Oakland Zoo.

In May, the program transported five zoo-born bison by trailer to a free-ranging herd in Montana. The additions to the herd will promote genetic diversity and will help bolster the population of bison in the wild.

The program transported five zoo-born bison by trailer in May to their natural habitat in Montana to join a free-ranging herd. Photo by Oakland Zoo.

In the early 1900s, American bison (also known as buffalo) nearly went extinct due to the surge of settlers moving west. Currently, bison numbers are improving but the populations still lack genetic diversity. The partnership of Oakland Zoo, Blackfeet Nation, and Indigenous LED aims to address that issue with captive breeding.

“With the birth of its 50th calf, the Oakland Zoo is helping bring home far more than buffalo to the Blackfeet Nation. Together, we are restoring threads that were once severed—between people and place, culture and identity, memory and future—showing what becomes possible when restoration is rooted in relationship,” says Cristina Mormorunni, Executive Director of Indigenous LED.

Bison calf and mama. Photo by Oakland Zoo.

The bison calf will eventually join a free-ranging herd in Montana. Photo by Oakland Zoo.

To learn more about the bison restoration project, see the Oakland Zoo website and the Indigenous LED website.

For more information about bison, see our article, American Bison.

5 Cool Facts about Bison for National American Bison Day

Posted on November 1, 2025 by admin

To celebrate National American Bison Day, which takes place on the first Saturday in November every year, here are five cool facts about bison:

1. Though often called a buffalo, the American bison is not a true buffalo.

The only true buffaloes in the world are the water buffalo and the African buffalo. American bison are not closely related to either of those. Instead, they are large ungulates (hoofed mammals) that live in the plains of North America.

Still, the name ‘buffalo’ is commonly used when referring to American bison and is typically accepted.

American bison are not closely related to African buffaloes or water buffaloes. Photo by ironrodart / iStock.com.

2. Both male and female bison have beards.

Yes, both male and female bison have long, scraggly hair on their chins and necks. They both also have horns! You can tell male and female bison apart by their size. Male bison are larger than females, weighing up to 900 kg (2000 lb.)!

Both male and female bison have beards. Photo by Daniel Gaura / iStock.com.

3. Baby bison don’t have humpbacks.

Newborn bison lack the distinctive hump of the adult bison. They begin developing the hump after a few months.

Bison calves are born with light reddish-brown fur and no hump. Photo by dmbaker / iStock.com.

4. American bison are pretty fast!

Although they are the largest land mammal in North America, American bison are surprisingly speedy. They can run up to 56 km/h (35 mph).

An animated sequence of an American bison galloping. Image by Eadweard Muybridge, Waugsberg, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

5. You can tell a bison’s mood by its tail.

When a bison’s tail is down, they are calm. But if you see their tail up, watch out! They are about to charge.

Tail down means this bison is calm. But don’t get too close! They’re still wild animals and need space. Photo credit: Murray Foubister, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Hope you enjoyed our roundup of fun bison facts! To learn more about bison, see our article, American Bison.

Bison Return to Montana Homeland

Posted on April 6, 2016 by admin

Bison were nearly wiped out in the early 1900s. Now, efforts are being made to restore the bison population to the Blackfeet Nation Reservation near Browning, Montana. Photo by Daniel Gaura / iStock.com.

In a collaboration between the Blackfeet Nation, Elk Island National Park in Alberta, Canada, Oakland Zoo, and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), 88 bison were transferred from Elk Island to the Blackfeet Nation Reservation near Browning, Montana.

This transfer marks a truly historic occasion for the Blackfeet people, whose cultural identity is strongly wrapped up in the icon of the buffalo (or bison, as they are known scientifically).

“The Blackfeet People were a buffalo people for thousands of years,“ said Harry Barnes, Chair of the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council.

“The buffalo provided everything the people needed in the way of food, clothing, and shelter. It provided for so much of our physical needs that it filled our spiritual needs. It connected us to our animal and plant relatives in a way nothing else could provide. The elders have long believed that until the buffalo returned, the Blackfeet would drift. We have started the return.”

In 1873, bison from the Blackfoot land were captured and formed the “Pablo-Allard” herd. They were sold to to the Canadian government in the early 1900s. The Elk Island bison are the descendants of that herd.

“Today marks the long-awaited return of these buffalo to their original homeland,” said Ervin Carlson, Bison Program Director and President of the Intertribal Buffalo Council. “The Elk Island Buffalo originated from Blackfeet territory and their homecoming enhances the restoration of Blackfeet culture. These animals are culturally and spiritually connected to our people and I believe their homecoming will begin a healing of historical trauma to the Blackfeet people. These buffalo will begin the longstanding efforts to restore buffalo to their historical mountain front rangelands.”

To learn more about bison, see our American bison facts article.

Bison: America’s National Mammal?

Posted on June 1, 2012 by admin

The bald eagle has been the national emblem of the United States since 1782, when it was adopted as a symbol of freedom and its imagery was incorporated into the Great Seal. Its symbolic status helped people rally around it when it faced extinction in the mid twentieth century due to human encroachment and the pesticide DDT. In recent years, the bald eagle population has recovered, and it was taken off the endangered species list in 2007.

Similar to the role of national bird, Senator Mike Enzi (R) of Wyoming and Senator Tim Johnson (D) of South Dakota introduced a bill that would recognize the bison as America’s national mammal. Vast herds of American bison once roamed from Canada to Mexico. From a population that numbered in the millions, American bison dwindled to near extinction by the 1880s, driven there by American settlers.

Today, bison populations have started to recover. There are about half a million bison living today. However most of the bison live in commercial herds and carry genes from cattle. Only a few thousand bison are pure descendants of the vast herds that dominated the Great Plains centuries ago.

To urge your senator to co-sponsor the National Bison Legacy Act, which will help preserve this great species and honor it for its significant role in American history, visit Vote Bison and sign the petition.

To learn more about bison, see Animal Fact Guide’s article, American Bison.