Wood Bison :: essays research papers

The Wood Bison are the largest native land mammals in North America. The wood bison were designated as an endangered species in 1978.Wood Bison are dark brownness terrestrial mammals. They feature very massive heads. They have a shagged brown coat with long, thick, black beards. Males have short black horns, which trim back inward, while females have straight horns. These bison have very large shoulders and a massive hump on their backs. Males are larger than females and measure virtually 3 to 4 meters long and 1.75 meters high at the shoulders. They weigh between 500 and 1000 kilograms. They are very distinctive animals, capable of foot race at speeds up to 35 mph. Wood bison reach their sexual maturity date somewhere between the ages of one and three years old. The gestational closure for these animals is some 270 to 300 days. The females usually give birth twice over a three-year period and bear only single calves, generally in the month of May. Twins are rare for the wo od bison. Calves are ablactate at about 7 months, but are able to browse with the herds from the time they are a week old. Wood bison spend frequently of their time grazing. They enjoy a diet of wild oats, rye, and wheat, lichens, horsetails and berries. They swallow their pabulum unchewed and when they rest later in the day, they bring up this unchewed food, called cud, and chew it.The briny enemies of the wood bison are the wolf, coyote, and grizzly bear. Of course, their main enemy is man This strain has also had numerous problems with disease. Anthrax was a major problem for these animals beforehand 1978. They have also had problems with tuberculosis. Another kind of threat is from drowning. It is not curious for several hundred animals to drown by falling through trim ice. The wood bison was never an organism with an extremely large creation. In the 1800s, it was estimated that the population was at about 168,000 animals. They were almost hunted to extinction in the n ineteenth century. In fact, by 1893, it was estimated that only 250 wood bison existed. By 1922, their population rebounded to about 1500 animals. It was then that Wood Buffalo National Park was established. The goal of the greens was to save the wood bison from extinction and to preserve their shrinking habitat. Inbreeding and disease formerly again diminished the herds, but in 1957, a herd of about 200 pure wood bison was discovered in a conflicting corner of the park.