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Bison Breeds
Millions of bison once thundered across America. Today, approximately 500,000 bison live across North America. Bison are large, even-toed ungulates in the genus Bison within the subfamily Bovinae.
Currently there are only 2 species of Bison; however, there are 4 species that are extinct. The 2 existing species are the American bison, B. bison, found only in North America, and often referred as a "buffalo" and B. bonasus, or Wisent, is found in Europe and the Caucasus.
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Breeds of Bison
There are the following breeds of :
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 Beefalo
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Beefalo, also referred to as cattalo, are
a fertile hybrid offspring of domestic cattle and the American bison. The breed
was created to combine the characteristics of both animals for beef production.
Beefalo are primarily cattle in genetics
and appearance, with the breed association defining a full Beefalo as one with
three-eighths bison genetics, while animals with higher percentages of bison
genetics are called "bison hybrids".
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Plains |
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At one time, at least 25 million American bison were
spread across the United States and Canada. However, by the late 1880s, the
total number of bison in the United States had been reduced to fewer than 600
individuals. Most of these were collected onto various private ranches, and
the last known free-roaming population of bison consisted of less than 30 in
the area which later became Yellowstone National Park.
Plains bison have since been reintroduced into a number of
locations around North America. Five m
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Wisent |
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Wisent, or European bison is
a Eurasian species of bison. It is one of two extant species of bison,
alongside the American bison. In the past, especially during the Middle Ages,
it was commonly killed for its hide, and to produce drinking horns.
Three subspecies existed in
the recent past, but only one survives today. The Bialowieza or lowland
European bison was kept alive in captivity, and has since been reintroduced
into several countries in Europe. They are now forest-dwelling.
In 1996, the International
Unio
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Wood |
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Wood Bison
(also known as mountain bison), are the largest terrestrial animal in North
America. Their original range included much of the boreal forest regions of
Alaska, Yukon, western Northwest Territories, northeastern British Columbia,
northern Alberta, and northwestern Saskatchewan.
Wood
Bison are heavier than Plains Bison and they have larger horn cores, darker and
woollier pelages, and less hair on their forelegs and beards.
In
addition to the loss of habitat and hunting, wood bison populations have also
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Zubron |
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Zubron
is a hybrid of domestic cattle and wisent. The wisent is the European bison;
hence, the zubron is analogous to the American beefalo. The name zubron was
officially chosen from hundreds of proposals sent to the Polish weekly magazine
Przekroj during a contest organized in 1969.
Zubron
were first developed by Leopold Walicki in 1847, although the hybrid may also
have appeared at an earlier time. After World War I, various scientists
considered Zubron a possible replacement for domestic cattle. Zubron turned out
to be mor
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