Denver, Colorado maintains two bison herds descended from the last wild North American bison. There were as few as 18 bison left in Colorado at the beginning of the 1900s. Thankfully, the conservation project has been a success and Denver has been transferring bison to Native American tribes to start additional herds. The herds are just about 30 minutes from downtown if you ever visit.
They really are majestic creatures. (albeit a bit grumpy)
If anyone in the US hasn't seen one in person, I'd recommend making the effort. Much different experience than simply seeing a picture, especially if it's on open range like Yellowstone National Park.
They're huge (~10' long, 6' tall). They're heavy (~1700 lbs). They're fast (~40mph, in the locomotive, once-they-get-1700lbs-going sense).
And they fit perfectly in scale with the plains.
(Disclaimer: Don't approach them, as they generally don't like that. And you don't want one angry at you)
They have this spring thing, where you see them wind up for half a second and then they do something far more agile (accelerate, jump, etc.) than you'd expect... for something that weighs that much.
Will never forget meeting a group on a trail, stepping off behind a (SUV-sized) boulder, then feeling them spook a bit and in 2 seconds go from a leisurely walking to thundering trot. Earth shaking with them just in a mild hurry! Not even full speed!
But they're built to outfight anything smaller than them and outrun anything bigger than them, so I guess they're as strong/fast as they need to be.
It doesn't mean they lift their entire body up 6 ft. They just have to be high enough to clear the belly while lifting their legs up. Just like steeplechase runners do. High jumpers never have their center of gravity above the bar, they just kinda fold themselves over it.
I read this and thought surely the center of gravity still has to pass over the bar. But right you are, the center of gravity can pass below the bar since it's just the average point of the mass. Cool!
Fermilab has had a herd on the grounds since the beginning. Used to be that visitors could get pretty close (but still behind the fence), but I haven't visited in many years.
While of course the bison there are fine, this reminds me of the National Lampoon's joke newspaper from Dacron, Ohio. One running joke there was an effort by environmentalists to protect the Dacron Nine-eyed Trout, which was only found near Dacron's nuclear power plant.
My uncle worked at Fermilab. The joke there was that the bison were the ultimate problem detectors. "If we look out at the ring and the bison are all dead, then we really have a problem".
More info, pictures, and video here: https://www.denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Of...