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Henry Mountains bison herd


The Henry Mountains bison herd, numbering 250 to 400 bison, is one of only four free roaming and genetically pure herds on public lands in North America. The other three herds are the Yellowstone Park bison herd which was the ancestral herd for the Henry Mountains animals, the Wind Cave bison herd in South Dakota and the herd on Elk Island in Alberta, Canada.

The animals in the Henry Mountains bison herd are American bison of the Plains bison subspecies (Bison bison bison). Yellowstone National Park may be the only location in the United States where free ranging bison were never exterminated, since they continued to exist in the wild and were not re-introduced as has been done in most other bison herd areas. As a result, the Yellowstone Park bison herd became the foundation herd for many others in the United States, including the Henry Mountains bison herd.

The bison in the Henry Mountains herd are one of two herds maintained by the State of Utah. The other is the Antelope Island bison herd. The Henry Mountains Bison Herd has also recently been extended into the mountains of the Book Cliffs, and this may become a third bison herd for the State of Utah.

American bison (Bison bison bison) live in river valleys, and on prairies and plains. Typical habitat is open or semi-open grasslands, as well as sagebrush, semi-arid lands and scrublands. Some lightly wooded areas are also known historically to have supported bison. Bison will also graze in hilly or mountainous areas where the slopes are not steep. Though not particularly known as high altitude animals, bison in the Henry Mountains herd are found throughout the Henry Mountains area, on public lands, including the desert lowlands and the mountainous regions to 10,000 feet (3,000 m) altitude. They are particularly prominent in the midlevel grassy areas.


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