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The American Bison is the largest animal of native to North America. They're around 2-3 meters long and around 1.5 to 2 meters tall depending on subspecies and sex. Their winter coat is shaggy and dark brown with their shorter summer coat being light brown. They have a large hump on their upper back. Both sexes have relatively small, curves horns which are used for fighting and status. They graze on the grasses of the prairies.

The American Bisons range once reached from Alaska all the down to the Gulf of Mexico, New York, California and Florida, almost all the way to the eastern coasts. The rich grassland of the so-called "great bison belt" was ideal for the large bovid and the species flourished to exceed 60 million individuals in the late 1700s. For the Native American tribes, the animal was sacred and ceremonies were held in honor of each bison that was hunted. All parts of the animal was used and it was an integral part of their tribes. It was almost hunted to extinction by the non-native colonists who killed Bisons not only for the hide and fur trade, but mainly to cut off Native American food supply and to break their morale, as the disappearance of their sacred animal was harrowing to their people. The population of the Buffallo dropped to less than 400,000 in 1880 and less than 1,000 in 1900. Thanks to conservation efforts, the species survived and now lives mostly in nature preserves and parks, counting roughly 500,000 non or semi-free and 15,000 completely free wild bison.

The American Bisons live in herds. Females live herds with other females and their offspring, while males live either alone or with other males. Breeding occurs from July to September. The dominant males will mate first and the weaker ones only have the few females that didn't breed left to mate with. The earlier they mate, the older and thus stronger their offspring will be in the breeding seasons, so offspring of dominant males will most likely be dominant too. Calves will drink their mothers milk until the next one is born or otherwise up to 18 months.

American Bison are particularly difficult to domesticate, as they're bulkier and stronger than domestic cattle. Despite seeming rather docile, they react aggressively if provoked and despite looking rather slow, can easily outrun humans. They're prone to charging at a speed of up to 60 kilometers per hour and can easily jump over 1.5 meter high fences or alternatively tear them down entirely. Nevertheless, many are held semi-freely commercially for their meat, fur and hides. In 2016, the animal was officially adopted as the national mammal of the United States.