Description
The bison (Bison bison) or American bison is a North American mammal in the Bovidae family. The scientific name Bos bison was published in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus. The Old World wisent (or European bison) is a closely related species. The animal is heavily built with a high shoulder hump, a large, heavy head, a short, thick neck, and a broad forehead. The head, neck, shoulders, and forelimbs are long and shaggy. The rest of the body is covered with shorter, lighter hair. The chin has a straggly beard. The animal stands 1.90 meters tall at the shoulder, and the bull is almost 3 meters long. The tail length is 30 to 60 cm. The bison can reach speeds of up to 50 km/h. Bison hides were exported to Europe. Between 1872 and 1874, 3,700,000 bison were killed, only 150,000 of them by Native Americans. White hunters killed the animals for their hides and left the carcasses to rot. Native Americans killed as many animals as they needed, dried the meat, preserved the marrow and fat, carved spoons and cups from the horns, woven lassos and belts from the hair, and processed the hides into tent canvas, clothing, and moccasins. Finally, bison were hunted to force the Plains Indians to abandon their nomadic lifestyle and settle on reservations. As late as 1875, General Philip Sheridan advocated the extermination of the bison in Congress for this last reason.[6] When concerned Texans asked him to do something about this large-scale slaughter by white hunters, Sheridan replied: "Let them kill, skin, and sell until all the buffalo are exterminated, for that is the only way to lasting peace and the further expansion of white civilization." Hunters organized special buffalo hunting trains, from which they could then shoot at the herds. As a result, by 1884 the buffalo was virtually exterminated. The Indian lost his buffalo, indispensable for its hide and meat.
