The bison is a majestic, massive creature, a true emblem of the American frontier spirit. These sturdy animals roamed North America"s prairies for thousands of years in numbers estimated to be as high as 60 million. But settlement of the American West caused habitat loss, and that, combined with overhunting, nearly wiped out the species altogether by the end of the 19th century. Ranchers, conservationists, Native American tribes, and politicians teamed up to save the bison and today, nearly 500,000 bison can be found in North America. About 15,000 animals are in free-roaming herds that graze on US public lands, like the bison in today"s image, shown at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
American bison, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
Looking down upon Edinburgh
-
Mountain hare hopping into Lunar New Year
-
Silver-studded blue butterflies
-
Yi Peng Festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand
-
Welcome to the Year of the Pig
-
The perfect canvas for an ancient text
-
Hyalite Creek at Custer Gallatin National Forest, Montana
-
The moon rises for Mid-Autumn Festival
-
Vote!
-
Celebrating whales—and a whale of a tale
-
On the Route of the Waterfalls
-
Celebrating a Paris landmark
-
A sea of swirling stone
-
Four Sisters, thousands of trees
-
Welcome to Scotland s garden
-
D-Day remembered
-
Wild and beautiful Alaska
-
Paradise, found
-
Don’t get lost in there
-
Lakeside serenity in Finland
-
New beginnings
-
International Sloth Day
-
It’s Weihnachtsmarkt time!
-
Cappadocia, Türkiye
-
Yarn for Distaff Day
-
Beautiful baobabs
-
Celebrating National Panda Day
-
Tegallalang terrace farms in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
-
Fin whales: A success story
-
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park turns 103