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:
-
Diamond Beach, Iceland
-
Welcome to Scotland s garden
-
Hohenzollern Castle near Stuttgart, Germany
-
Morocco in bloom
-
It s Republic Day in India
-
Class, please take out a No. 2 pencil…
-
Rainbow Mountain
-
A dying breed of tree thrives in an American park
-
Hut, hut, hike!
-
Welcome to El Cervantino
-
Merry Christmas
-
Spotted eagle rays in the Galápagos Islands
-
Beech trees and wild anemones, Jutland, Denmark
-
Mossy Grotto Falls, Oregon
-
Birds of a feather
-
By the light of the fireflies
-
Why does this panda cub look so happy?
-
An emerald isle of the Emerald Isle
-
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
-
World Population Day
-
Crested caracaras
-
Not your average sandcastle
-
Río Negro, Amazon basin, Brazil
-
A night on the (ghost) town
-
Peel Castle on St. Patrick’s Isle with the Isle of Man in the background
-
Of moose and Maine
-
Pi Day
-
Autumn in the Prosecco Hills
-
A sizzling summit hides in the clouds
-
Winter in Old Nuuk