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BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary


Bos bison
American Bison

 
Scientific Name: Bos bison (Linnaeus, 1758)
Scientific Name Synonyms: Bison bison
English Name: American Bison
 
Classification / Taxonomy
Scientific Name - Concept Reference: Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 2005. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Third edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. Two volumes. 2,142 pp. [As modified by ASM the Mammal Diversity Database (MDD) at https://www.mammaldiversity.org/index.html]
Classification Level: Species
Taxonomy Comments: Changed to Bos bison from Bison bison to align with NatureServe (Feb 21, 2005 DDW).
Species Group: Vertebrate Animal
Species Code: M-BOBI
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
Animalia Craniata Mammalia Artiodactyla Bovidae
   
Conservation Status / Legal Designation
Global Status: G4 (Apr 2016)
Provincial Status: S2 (Apr 2024)
BC List: No Status
Provincial FRPA list:   
Provincial Wildlife Act:
COSEWIC Status:
SARA Schedule:
General Status Canada: 1 - At Risk (2005)
   
Ecology & Life History
General Description:
Global Reproduction Comments: Most cows breed at 2-4 years; males usually mature at 3 years, but most breeding done by older (6+ years) males. Most mating July-August. Gestation lasts about 9.5 months. Normally 1 calf, is born mainly mid-April to early June (as early as March in Oklahoma, sometimes as late as summer or early fall in South Dakota). Most calves are weaned by late fall or end of first year, remain with mother until spring or later if she does not conceive. Life span 18-22 years.
Global Ecology Comments: Gregarious. Often forms herds of 11 - 12 animals. Cows and young remain in herds throughout the year. Bulls solitary or in small groups until summer when they begin to mix with cow-calf herds. Home range in Northwest Territories averaged several hundred sq km (Larter and Gates 1990). May live up to about 20 years.
Migration Characteristics:
(Global / Provincial)		 
    Nonmigrant:
    Local Migrant:
    Distant Migrant:
    Within Borders Migrant: 		N /
N /
Y /
na /
Global Migration Comments: Previously made mass migrations across prairie in spring and fall. Probably moved southward a few hundred miles to winter pastures. Mountain popualtions moved to lower elevations in valleys. Movements of U.S. populations now are restricted to parks and vicinity.
Habitats:
(Type / Subtype / Dependence)
Global Habitat Comments: Open plains and grasslands in south; woodland and openings in boreal forest, meadows, and river valleys in north. Like other large grazers, attracted to burned areas the next growing season (Shaw and Carter 1990). During the growing season at the Konza Prairie in northeastern Kansas, preferred areas that had been burned in spring; summer grazing was concentrated in large watershed area (79-119 ha) dominated by warm-season, perennial C4 grasses; in fall and winter, grazed both burned and unburned watersheds more uniformly but grazed most intensively in areas with large stands of cool-season, C3 grasses (Vinton et al. 1993). Cows usually give birth in isolation where vegetation provides cover; isolation during birth is infrequent where cover is lacking (Meagher 1986).
Food Habits: Herbivore: Adult, Immature
Global Food Habits Comments: Primarily a grazer. Feeds on grasses, forbs, and sedges. See GHABCOM.
Global Phenology: Diurnal: Adult, Immature
Global Phenology Comments: Primarily diurnal (especially early morning and late afternoon), with several grazing periods interspersed with loafing and ruminating (Meagher 1986).
Provincial Phenology:
(1st half of month/
2nd half of month)
Colonial Breeder: N
Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): 380/ / 907000
Elevation (m) (min / max): Global: 
Provincial: 
   
 
Distribution
Endemic: N
Global Range Comment: Formerly widespread in North America from Alaska and western Canada across U.S. into northern Mexico. Currently found in isolated units throughout and external to its historical range.
 
Authors / Contributors
Global Information Author: Hammerson, G.
Last Updated: Jan 31, 1994
Provincial Information Author:
Last Updated:
   
References and Related Literature
Banfield, A. W. F. 1974. The mammals of Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada. 438 pp.
Bork, A. M., C. M. Strobeck, F. C. Yeh, R. J. Hudson and R. K. Slamon. 1991. Genetic relationship of wood and plains bison based on restriction fragment length polymorphisms. Canadian Journal of Zoology 69: 43-48.
Caire, W., J. D. Tyler, B. P. Glass, and M. A. Mares. 1989. Mammals of Oklahoma. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. Oklahoma. 567 pp.
Geist, V. 1990. Agriculture versus bison in Canada's Wood Buffalo National Park. Conservation Biology 4:345-346.
Georgiadis, N. J., P. Kat, H. Oketch, and J. Patton. 1991. Allozyme divergence within the Bovidae. Evolution 44:2135-2149.
Hall, E. R. 1981a. The Mammals of North America, second edition. Vols. I & II. John Wiley & Sons, New York, New York. 1181 pp.
Jones, J. K., Jr., D. M. Armstrong, R. S. Hoffmann, and C. Jones. 1983. Mammals of the Northern Great Plains. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Nebraska.
Kraus, F., and M. M. Miyamoto. 1991. Rapid cladogenesis among the pecoran ruminants: evidence from mitochondrial DNA sequences. Systematic Zoology 40:117-130.
Larter, N. C., and C. C. Gates. 1990. Home ranges of wood bison in an expanding population. J. Mamm. 71:604-607.
Mason, I. L. 1975. Beefalo: much ado about nothing? World Rev. of Animal Production 11(4):19-23.
Matthews, J.R. and C.J. Moseley (eds.). 1990. The Official World Wildlife Fund Guide to Endangered Species of North America. Volume 1. Plants, Mammals. xxiii + pp 1-560 + 33 pp. appendix + 6 pp. glossary + 16 pp. index. Volume 2. Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians, Fishes, Mussels, Crustaceans, Snails, Insects, and Arachnids. xiii + pp. 561-1180. Beacham Publications, Inc., Washington, D.C.
McClenaghan, L. R., Jr., J. Berger, and H. D. Truesdale. 1990. Founding lineages and genetic variability in plains bison (BISON BISON) from Badlands National Park, South Dakota. Conservation Biology 4:285-289.
McDonald, J.N. 1981. North American Bison -- their classification and evolution. 316 pp.
McHugh, T. 1972. The Time of the Buffalo. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. xxiv+339+xi pp.
Meagher, M. 1986. Bison bison. Mammalian Species 266: 1-8.
Meagher, M. 1989a. Range expansion by bison of Yellowstone National Park. J. Mamm. 70:670-675.
Meagher, M. 1989b. Evaluation of boundary control for bison of Yellowstone National Park. Wildl. Soc. Bull. 17:15-19.
Miyamoto, M. M., S. M. Tanhauser, and P. J. Laipis. 1989. Systematic relationships in the artiodactyl tribe Bovini (family Bovidae), as determined from mitochondrial DNA sequences. Syst. Zool. 38:342-349.
Myers, N. 1983. A wealth of wild species. Westview Press,Boulder, Colorado. xiii + 274 pp.
Peterson, M. J., W. E. Grant, and D. S. Davis. 1991. Bison-brucellosis management: simulation of alternative strategies. J. Wildl. Manage. 55:205-213.
Roe, F. 1972. The North American buffalo. Toronto. 991 pp.
Roe, F.G. 1951. The North American Buffalo. A Critical Studyof the Species in the Wild State. Univ. Toronto Press, Toronto. xi+991 pp.
Shaw, J. A., and T. S. Carter. 1990. Bison movements in relation to fire and seasonality. Wildl. Soc. Bull. 18:426-430.
Van Vuren, D., and M. P. Bray. 1986. Population dynamics of bison in the Henry Mountains, Utah. J. Mamm. 67:503-511.
van Zyll de Jong, C. G., C. Gates, H. Reynolds, and W. Olson. 1995. Phenotypic variation in remnant populations of North American bison. Journal of Mammalogy 76:391-405.
Vinton, M. A., et al. 1993. Interactive effects of fire, bison (Bison bison) grazing and plant community composition in tallgrass prairie. Am. Midl. Nat. 129:10-18.
Wall, D. A., S. K. Davis, and B. M. Read. 1992. Phylogenetic relationships in the subfamily Bovinae (Mammalia: Artiodactyla) based on ribosomal DNA. J. Mamm. 73:262-275.
Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/.
 

Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.

Suggested Citation:

B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1994. Species Summary: Bos bison. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 25, 2026).