National Bison Month: From Conflict to Conservation

Bison are having a moment, and we couldn’t be happier for North America’s largest—and once widest-ranging—land mammal.

Although an estimated 30–60 million plains bison roamed freely prior to European colonization and westward expansion, by 1889, their numbers had fallen to a mere 512. In one of America’s greatest comeback stories, however, these “masters of endurance” (in the words of Natural Habitat Adventures’ Expedition Leader Sophie Mazowita) found a way to survive.

Today, thanks to a coalition of conservationists, ranchers and Indigenous communities, some 20,000 bison now live in conservation herds in the U.S. (in sum, roughly 500,000 inhabit public and private lands, ranches and zoos). To honor the animal’s vast contributions to America’s cultural and ecological heritage, the National Bison Legacy Act of 2016 federally designated bison as America’s national mammal, and since then, July has been recognized as National Bison Month.

From gaining a deeper understanding of these iconic creatures to getting wild with them in Yellowstone National Park, here are five of our favorite ways to commemorate the monthlong event.