The American bison (Bison bison; pl.: bison), also called the American buffalo or simply buffalo (not to be confused with true buffalo), is a species of bison native to North America. It is one of two extant species of bison, alongside the European bison. Its historical range circa 9000 BC is described as the great bison belt, a tract of rich grassland from Alaska to the Gulf of Mexico, east to the Atlantic Seaboard (nearly to the Atlantic tidewater in some areas), as far north as New York, south to Georgia, and according to some sources, further south to northern Florida, with sightings in North Carolina near Buffalo Ford on the Catawba River as late as 1750.[2][3][4]
Once roaming in vast herds, the species nearly became extinct by a combination of commercial hunting and slaughter in the 19th century and introduction of bovine diseases from domestic cattle. With an estimated population of 60 million in the late 18th century, the species was culled down to just 541 animals by 1889 as part of the subjugation of the Native Americans, because the American bison was a major resource for their traditional way of life (food source, hides for clothing and shelter, and horns and bones for tools).[5][6] Recovery efforts expanded in the mid-20th century, with a resurgence to roughly 31,000 wild bison as of March 2019.[7] For many years, the population was primarily found in a few national parks and reserves. Through multiple reintroductions, the species now freely roams wild in several regions in the United States, Canada and Mexico. American Bison have also been introduced to Yakutia in Russia.[8]
Two subspecies or ecotypes have been described: the plains bison (B. b. bison), smaller in size and with a more rounded hump, and the wood bison (B. b. athabascae)—the larger of the two and having a taller, square hump.[9][10][11][12][13][14] Furthermore, the plains bison has been suggested to consist of a northern plains (B. b. montanae) and a southern plains (B. b. bison) subspecies, bringing the total to three.[12] However, this is generally not supported. The wood bison is one of the largest wild species of extant bovid in the world, surpassed only by the Asian gaur.[15] Among extant land animals in North America, the bison is the heaviest and the longest, and the second tallest after the moose.
Spanning back millennia, Native American tribes have had cultural and spiritual connections to the American bison. It is the national mammal of the United States.
In American English, both buffalo and bison are considered correct terms for the American bison.[16] However, in British English, the word buffalo is reserved for the African buffalo and water buffalo and not used for the bison.[17]
In English usage, the term buffalo was used to refer to the American mammal as early as 1625.[18] The word bison was applied in the 1690s.[19]