Knowra Bison Bison Bison are large, hump-shouldered bovines native to Europe, Asia, and North America. The living species are the American bison and the European bison, or wisent.
American bison : A bison species native to North America, including plains and wood-dwelling forms. It is one of the two living species in the genus.
Ruminant : A mammal that ferments plant food in a multi-chambered stomach and regurgitates cud for further chewing. Ruminant digestion lets bison extract nutrients from fibrous grasses.
Bison evolution : The evolutionary history of bison, including their diversification and spread across Eurasia and North America. It explains how the genus came to occupy widely separated continents.
American bison conservation : Efforts to protect and restore American bison populations and their habitats. Near-extinction and recovery transformed bison into a major conservation case.
Water buffalo : A large bovine species native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, widely domesticated for work and milk. Despite the shared common name, water buffalo are not members of the genus Bison.
European bison : A bison species, also called the wisent, native to Europe. It is the genus’s other living species.
Grazing : The feeding behavior of consuming grasses and other low-growing plants. Bison crop grasses with broad muzzles and influence the vegetation they feed on.
Bering land bridge : A land connection between northeast Asia and Alaska exposed during periods of low sea level. Bison ancestors crossed between Asia and North America through this region.
Bison hunting : The pursuit and killing of bison for food, hides, and other uses. Intensive commercial hunting drove the dramatic nineteenth-century decline of American bison.
African buffalo : A large African bovine species, Syncerus caffer, living in herds across varied habitats. It is a true buffalo, unlike American bison, which are often called buffalo informally.
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