Return of the Bison

[Catherine]

The Bison are a North American herd animal that was nearly wiped out.  It was also the subject of early conservation efforts.  In many ways conservation in north America was born because of the bison.The Bison has now been designated as the United States of America's National mammal.

Bison were really important in Canada too, especially  on the Canadian prairies, my birth place. However we have the beaver as our national mammal and national animal. So we can let out neighbour to the south claim the Bison.

http://news.google.ca/news/url?sr=1&ct2=...t=2&at=dt0


The herds were so massive the ground shook when they moved. I have seen some of the Canadian herds of Bison. Manitoba had a good sized herd when I was a kid. I imagine it is still there since they lived in a National Park. I think the whole ecology of the prairies depends on the Bison and their continued existence can only bring restoration of much that was lost. Ploughing the whole prairie ecosystem for farming made it vulnerable to drought. Restoring large tracts of land protect us from another farming disaster like the droughts of the 1930's. With the return of the Bison comes the return of everything else that depended on them. Some of these animals like the Black Footed Ferret have been bred in captivity and deliberately released, but the program has been successful.

I would love one day to return to my beloved prairies and see them the way my grandmother saw them before they were destroyed by over cultivation. I would love to see the Bison the way she saw them.