American Bison or Buffalo / Infographic

The American Bison – more commonly referred to as the buffalo – is a large land mammal. It once roamed much of the grasslands of central North America in massive herds, numbering in the tens of thousands. Overhunting and habitat loss in the 19th century pushed the bison to near extinction with the population dwindling a few hundred individuals. Currently there are thought to only be roughly 20,000 bison in the wild today. They are a protected species on federal lands, but in some areas they are raised for their meat.