The biggest land animal in the Americas
A bull can weigh a tonne, as much as a small car.
The Great Plains
American bison
Bison bison
A massive, dark-brown wild ox with a huge shaggy head, a hump and short curved horns.
- Size
- Up to 1.9m at the shoulder, and a tonne in weight
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Grasslands of the United States and Canada
Plods after you, and can charge. Move your pointer and see.
When to look
Bison
Good to know
Six things about the bison
Faster than it looks
A bison can run at 35 miles an hour and jump a fence nearly two metres high.
A snow plough
In winter it swings its huge head from side to side to sweep snow off the grass.
Watch the tail
A tail hanging down means a calm bison. A tail held straight up means it may charge.
Dust baths
Bison roll in dusty hollows called wallows, to get rid of flies and loose fur.
Nearly lost
Hunting cut them from tens of millions to a few hundred. Protection has brought them back to about half a million.
The real thing
Photos of the bison
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Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
How to spot one
Yellowstone has the oldest wild herd. They often stand on the road, so stay in the car and give them plenty of room.
How to help
Native American nations are bringing bison back to their lands. In Kent, their European cousins have been released into a wood to help it grow wilder.
Keep going
More from The Great Plains
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