Bison facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bison Temporal range: 2–0Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ Early Pleistocene – Recent
American bison (Bison bison)
European bison (Bison bonasus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Bovidae
Subfamily:	Bovinae
Subtribe:	Bovina
Genus:	Bison Hamilton Smith, 1827
Species
B. bison B. bonasus †B. antiquus †B. hanaizumiensis †B. latifrons †B. occidentalis †B. palaeosinensis †B. priscus †B. schoetensacki

A group of wisents

Bison are a large, even-toed ungulate. They are bovines, similar to cows. They are often called buffalo, but are not closely related to African buffalo or water buffalo.

Bison live in the northern part of the world. The American bison lives in North America where they formerly wander around the prairies in huge herds. The wisent lives in Europe. Bison can also live in rugged areas.

American

They are the biggest mammals in North America. There used to be as many as 30 million bison in the United States, but because of hunting, by 1890, only 1,000 bison were left. Through conservation efforts, there are now more American bison than there used to be, but still far fewer than there were before the 1800s.

European

European bison (wisent) tend to live in lightly wooded to fully wooded areas and areas with increased shrubs and bushes, though they can also live on grasslands and plains.

Taxonomy

They are classified in the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae

• Genus Bison
  • American bison (Bison bison)
  • Wisent or European bison (Bison bonasus)

Life

They live to be about 20 years old and are born without their "hump" or horns, which both males and females have. After shedding their light colored hair, and with their horns, they are grown at 2 to 3 years of age, but the males keep growing slowly until about age seven. Adult bulls are very dominant in mating season. Adult bison usually have one or two baby bison.

Images for kids

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  Magdalenian bison on plaque, 17,000–9,000 BC, Bédeilhac grottoe, Ariège

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  A museum display shows the full skeleton of an adult male American bison

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  Skulls of European bison (left) and American bison (right)

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  A group of images by Eadweard Muybridge, set to motion to illustrate the movement of the bison

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  A bison charges an elk in Yellowstone National Park.

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  Last of the Canadian Buffaloes, 1902, photograph: Steele and Company

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  A bison and a bull elk grazing together in Yellowstone National Park.

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  Wolves hunting bison

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  Photo from the 1870s of a pile of American bison skulls waiting to be ground for fertilizer.

See also

In Spanish: Bisontes para niños