Buffalo Bisons - Pictures

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Buffalo Bisons - Reproduction

Buffalo Bison are gregarious animals. They live in small groups that are based on hierarchy. The strongest Bison with the highest rank leads male groups, usually consisting of 30 heads. This male breeds more often than males with a lower rank. Female groups are made up of cows with the young and a few adult males.

Female Buffalo Bison reach sexual maturity at the age of 2-3 years old. Males are slower to mature than females. Being sexually mature by the age of three years old, male Buffalo Bison start breeding no sooner than at 6 years of age.

The breeding season for the Buffalo Bison is from April through May. The gestation period lasts for about 285 days. Females give birth to the young in isolated places with a good cover. Usually, a female delivers one calf yearly. Calves weigh about 15-25 at birth. The coat is red in color, yet starts to turn brown in a few months. By the age of one year old, calves are completely weaned.

Buffalo Bisons - Threats

Buffalo Bison live for about 20 years in the wild. In captivity, they have been known to live for more than 30 years. The Buffalo Bison is known to have a few natural predators. The grizzly and the black bear, the wolf, and cougars all prey on the Buffalo Bison. Despite the fact that the grizzly bear is capable of bringing most of the destruction for the species (besides man), the bears' numbers are not large in the habitats of the Buffalo Bison. Young or sick Buffalo Bison are frequent targets of wolves.

Besides natural predation and habitat loss, the Buffalo Bison suffers from diseases. The most severe of them, bovine tuberculosis and bucellosis, originated from the cattle brought to North America. The first registered case of tuberculosis occurred in Canada, at the Buffalo Park, in the 1920s. The disease spread with relocation of some animals. Buffalo Bison also suffer from anthrax.

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